Equatorial Guinea is voting in a general election in which President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the world's longest-serving president, is expected to extend his 43-year rule at the helm of the tiny West African oil-producing country, Reuters reported.

More than 400,000 people registered to vote in the country of about 1.5 million people. Voters will also vote to elect 100 members of parliament to the lower house, 55 of the country's 70 senators and local mayors.

Observers expect no surprises. Obiang, 80, has always been elected with more than 90 percent of the vote in polls whose fairness has been questioned by international observers because of longstanding complaints by human rights groups about his lack of political freedom.

He is seeking his sixth term against two opposition candidates, Buenaventura Monsuy Asumu, who is running for the sixth time against Obiang, and Andres Esono Ondo, who is running for the first time.