Libyans smiled, honked their car horns and congratulated each other Saturday as they took part in their first election after decades of undemocratic rule under the late Moamer Gaddafi, DPA reported.
Nuri al-Abbar, the chairman of the Election Commission, said that about 1.2 million people had gone to the ballots by 4:00 pm (1400 GMT) to elect a 200-seat National Congress tasked with appointing a new government.
People were distributing sweets and chocolates at polling stations, as loudspeakers played nationalistic and religious songs.
"For Libya's sake," said Yasmin Moftah, a 53-year-old female voter, as she entered a polling station in the eastern city of Benghazi, the birth place of the uprising against Gaddafi.
Around 2.8 million Libyans registered to elect the assembly, which will consist of 120 directly elected members and 80 from contenders selected by political parties. Results are not expected for several days.
Some 2,500 candidates were vying for the directly elected seats, while there are 1,202 names on the party lists.
"I came to exert my right to vote and take part in the democratic process here, which we were banned from doing for around half a century," said Siraj al-Shaikhi, 26, flashing his inked finger after he cast his ballot.
Dozens of people blocked one of Benghazi's main streets, carrying the national flag and flashing the victory sign to passersby. They were joined by families of those killed during last year's conflict to oust Gaddafi.
Armed police patrolled the streets to ensure security in the city, after calls to boycott the elections - over allegedly unfair seats distribution - prompted fears of violence.
A small group of anti-election protesters, who support reviving the federal system in the country, looted ballot boxes from a school and then burnt them.
They stayed in the square for a few hours after that shouting "federalism!"
The western region, including Tripoli, has been allocated 106 seats. The eastern region, including the second-largest city, Benghazi, has 60 seats. The remaining have been allocated to those representing residents of thinly-populated areas in southern Libya.
Al-Abbar said some polling stations in Benghazi had not opened due to security reasons and attacks by anti-government protesters. But by midday Saturday (1000 GMT) there were no reports of violence.
Gunshots had been heard across Benghazi late Friday after an attack on a helicopter carrying voting material killed one person on board.
On Saturday, however, the general mood was also good in the capital Tripoli
Voters gathered in the city's Martyr's Square to celebrate, despite the soaring heat. The square, known as the Green Square during Gaddafi's reign, is where his supporters rallied during the conflict.
Many people lined up outside polling stations to cast their vote. A Tripoli resident said he had waited for 90 minutes before being able to vote.
"Everything is well-organized and there are no reports of any disturbances here in Tripoli," Mohamed Ghoula, spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood's Justice and Construction Party, told dpa.
Observers in polling stations said there were no complaints.
Fourteen foreign monitoring groups and around 10,000 local monitors were observing the polls across the country.
Voting was also going smoothly in the southwestern city of Sabha, local media reported.
The government has declared Saturday and Sunday a public holiday to encourage people to vote.
Polls were scheduled to close at 8:00pm (1800 GMT).
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