Bahrainis voted on Saturday to fill parliamentary seats that were vacated by the members of the opposition Wefaq party during the recent unrest.

Out of the 18 vacant seats, four MPs have already been elected unopposed after their rivals pulled out of the race.

Now 55 hopefuls are vying for the 14 remaining seats up for grabs in the Northern, Capital and Central Governorates, with 187,080 people eligible to cast their ballots in the by-elections.

Voting is taking place in 21 polling stations, including seven in neutral areas for those worried about voting in their own constituency. The voting will close at 8pm.

Jalil al-Alli, one of two candidates running for a seat in Saar, said the poll boycott would not help address the problems.

'I felt that running would be in the interests of the people,' Alli said. 'We need to monitor ministers and tackle issues like unemployment.'