Polls open in Kuwait.<br/> <br />But these parliamentary elections take place amid an opposition boycott and street protests.<br/> <br />Some 423,000 Kuwaitis are eligible to cast ballots.<br/> <br />That includes women who only gained the right to vote in 2005.<br/> <br />Opposition forces in the Gulf Arab state had secured around two thirds of the National Assembly in February elections.<br/> <br />But the parliament was dissolved in June.<br/> <br />This time around, opposition candidates are not standing because of a change in voting rules ordered by the emir, whose family has ruled for 250 years.<br/> <br />On Friday, tens of thousands of Kuwaiti activists demonstrated, urging people not to vote in protest.<br/> <br />The electoral change reduces votes per citizen from four to one.<br/> <br />The opposition, a disparate collection of Islamists, liberals and populist politicians, argue removing the additional ballots makes it more difficult for them to form alliances.
