PRAGUE, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Voting is underway in the Czech Republic's parliamentary elections, with polling stations opening at 2 p.m. local time on Friday.

The two-day nationwide election will determine the 200 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of parliament.

Preliminary forecasts suggest that six to seven parties may win representation, with front-runners including the ANO movement and the Spolu coalition. Other parties in contention are STAN, the Pirates, SPD, Stacilo! and the Motorists for Themselves Party.

In all, 26 political parties and movements are competing, fielding more than 4,400 candidates nationwide. About 8 million citizens are eligible to vote.

A notable change this year is the introduction of postal voting for Czechs living abroad. By the end of August, around 24,000 citizens had registered to cast their ballots by mail.

Official results are expected Saturday evening, after polling closes and the first ballots are counted. Enditem