Vietnamese have begun voting to select members of the country's national assembly in polls that are expected to be among the most free and hotly-contested in recent years.
But while record numbers of independent candidates are standing, Sunday's elections look certain to result in an overwhelming victory for the country's ruling Communist party.
"Voting is the right and duty of every citizen," neighbourhood loudspeakers in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, have reminded voters in tinny, early morning messages.
"Election day is the festival of every Vietnamese citizen."
The 876 candidates in Sunday's election for 500 seats include 30 "self-nominated" people.
This is double the number who stood in the 2002 election and comes after the country's Communist leadership appealed for more independent candidates to stand.
"We hope that among these there will be more people elected to parliament, because last time only two independent candidates were elected," Nguyen Si Dung, an electoral expert in the National Assembly office, said.
In total 150 of the candidates are not members of the Communist party, the country's only legal political party.
Growing power
Its members have begun aggressively questioning government ministers, and they carefully review drafts of laws submitted by government agencies.
The assembly has made a priority of cracking down on corruption, which is widespread in Vietnam.
The country's gradual political liberalisation comes as Vietnam moves to assume a greater role in East Asian politics, joining the World Trade Organisation in January and moving to end decades of self-imposed political isolation.