Lithuanian voters began to cast their votes for the country's parliamentary elections on Sunday.

It is the first parliamentary elections since the Baltic state joined the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) this year.

A total of 2.645 million registered voters started voting at 2,031 polling stations throughout the country at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) to elect the 141 lawmakers. The polls will close at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT).

The latest opinion polls showed a party led by a Russian-born millionaire may rank the first in the race.

The first official results were expected about 10 pm (1900 GMT).Its final results will be unveiled only after Oct. 24 when a second round of voting is held in those of the 71 individual constituencies where no candidate gets more than 50 percent of thevote.

Source: Xinhua