Mongolia goes to the polls on Wednesday to select its sixth democratically-elected president, with the ruling Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) on the cusp of consolidating its power following a low-key campaign crimped by COVID-19 curbs.

The election kicked off across Mongolia today with over 2.1 million people eligible to exercise their franchise. The polling started at 7 a.m. (local time) at 2,087 polling stations across the country and will end at 10:00 p.m., according to the General Election Commission.

Three candidates, namely Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, chairman of the ruling Mongolian People's Party; Sodnomzundui Erdene, former chairman of the opposition Democratic Party; and Dangaasuren Enkhbat, a former legislator that is the candidate from the political alliance the Right Person Electorate Coalition, are running for the President, Xinhua reported.

The presidential election takes place amid the fear of pandemic, and in recent days, more than 1,000 Covid cases have been reported per day in the country, mostly in the capital Ulan Bator, which is home to over half of the country's population of 3.3 million.

More than 25,600 Mongolian voters, who are not able to come to polling stations in person, including 7,000 people who are staying under compulsory isolation at home or hospitals due to the pandemic, cast their votes through special mobile ballot boxes on Tuesday.

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