The Saturday ballot for the 40-seat chamber has been overshadowed by a crackdown on Shia political activists.
About 318,000 Bahrainis are eligible to vote in the country's third lower house election, while the king names the members of a 40-strong upper chamber, known as the 'consultative council.'
The run-up to the elections has been overshadowed by a broad security crackdown against some Shia opposition groups in August. The government has also clamped down on bloggers and human rights activists.
Manama has recently made hundreds of arrests and charged more than 20 opposition Shia leaders with plotting to topple the Bahraini government.
Human rights groups have criticized Bahrain for suppressing the opposition in an attempt to keep them away from the polls. However, the Persian Gulf state's majority Shias say they are only seeking greater rights.
The country's Shia clerics have, on different occasions, criticized the monarchy's grip on power and demanded a share in the state's polity.
"It is unacceptable that power be monopolized by a single family, even one to which we owe respect and consideration," AFP quoted Sheikh Ali Salman, the head of the Islamic National Accord Association, as saying recently.
"We look forward to the day when any child of the people, be they Sunni or Shiite, can become prime minister," Salman noted.
The Persian Gulf littoral state has been ruled by the pro-Western Al-Khalifa family since 1783.
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