Mahmoud Abbas, front-runner in the Palestinian presidential election, cast his ballot at a polling station in the West Bank city of Ramallah Sunday morning.

"We heard that there is a high turnout, especially by women, and this is a very good thing," Abbas said after casting his ballot at the Muqata headquarters of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in Ramallah.

"The election is going smoothly, showing that the Palestinian people are moving toward democracy," he said.

Recent polls showed Abbas, chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee and standing for the mainstream Fatah faction, is the most likely presidential candidate to win the election.

"The Palestinian people had just started heading toward democracy," Abbas told reporters at Muqata.

"I'm happy because I practiced my right to vote," he said, adding the election "is going fine without any obstacle, and our people are going through the right direction, which is democracy."

Earlier in the day, the first Palestinian presidential election since 1996 kicked off throughout the Palestinian territories -- the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem to choose a successor to late leader Yasser Arafat who died in a French hospital on Nov.11 last year.

The official result of the election due to end at 7:00 pm local time Sunday will be declared on Monday.

Source: Xinhua