Bahrain set for disputed election amid Shia boycott calls
Bahraini voters are due to take part in the country's first parliamentary elections since Arab Spring protests broke out in 2011, the BBC reported.
The government has called on all of the country's political factions to participate in Saturday's poll.
But Shia opposition groups plan to stage a boycott, saying the vote is an attempt to establish "absolute rule."
Despite being ruled by a Sunni monarchy, the majority of the Bahraini population are Shias.
Disenchanted protesters took to the streets of the capital, Manama, in 2011 to demand greater civil rights.
But the protests were stamped out when the government, backed by Saudi tanks, moved in to crush dissent.
Talks to resolve the situation have since collapsed and unrest has continued.