Following are some facts about the elections:

Polling stations open at 8 am (0500 GMT) and close at 6 pm (1500 GMT)

Number of inhabitants in Iraqi Kurdistan, which covers the provinces of Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah: 4.38 million

Number of registered voters: 2.52 million

Number of polling stations: 1,284

A total of 16,520 observers, including 350 international monitors, will oversee the vote

Presidential election

Five candidates are in the running, including the favourite and incumbent Massud Barzani. The president is elected for a four-year term

Parliamentary election

The Kurdish parliament has 111 seats and is elected for a four-year term.

A total of 24 political lists are contesting the election, including the Kurdish Alliance, which groups Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)

On Thursday, more than 100,000 Kurdish members of the Iraqi security forces were casting their ballots along with Kurdish prisoners and the sick.