Some 1,978 polling stations are opened across Moldova, with another 95 operating abroad.
“According to the electronic system, some 480 people vote per minute,” the Central Election Commission said earlier in the day.
Four independent candidates and 21 political parties are taking part in the election. The electoral threshold is set at 6 percent.
The parliamentary election, which allocates all 101 seats in the post-Soviet republic's parliament, is held every four years.
Latest opinion polls show that the opposition Communist Party, seeking to increase cooperation with Russia, is expected to gain the majority of votes. However, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova, which declares an ambitious goal of becoming an EU member by 2020, was only slightly behind the communists.