Voting started at 7 a.m. local time (1900 GMT Thursday) and were to close at 6 p.m. local time (0600 GMT), Xinhua news agency reported quoting the country's Ministry of Culture and Internal Affairs.

Voters will elect a new president between three candidates: Maamau, Bautaake Beia, and Kaotitaake Kokoria. All of them were from the ruling Tobwaan Kiribati Party when they were chosen by members of the parliament in September.

However, Radio New Zealand reported on Friday that Kokoria has broken away from the ruling party to form his own alliance.

The Kiribati President, who is both head of state and head of government, is to be elected in a presidential election by universal adult suffrage from three or four candidates nominated by and from among members of a new parliament.

Parliamentary elections were held in Kiribati in August and the incumbent ruling Tobwaan Kiribati Party won an overwhelming majority, obtaining more than 30 out of the 45 seats in the new parliament.

At the first sitting of the new parliament on September 13, four presidential candidates, all from the Tobwaan Kiribati Party at the time, were chosen. One of them has withdrawn from the race.

Maamau won his first presidential term in March 2016 and was re-elected in June 2020.