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Kosovo went to the polls Sunday for the first time since the ethnic Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia last year, amid a partial boycott by a divided Serbian community. Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said the local election "is the most important since the proclamation of independence" as he voted in bright sunshine in Pristina, accompanied by his family. More than 1.5 million people are eligible to vote in the mayoral and local council elections in what Serbia sees as a renegade southern province. But most eyes were on the 140,000 strong Serb community amid calls from Belgrade and the influential Serbian Orthodox Church for them to boycott the polls. Serbs appeared to be participating in polling stations throughout central Kosovo, home to two-thirds of the Serbian population, local media reported. Some 200 out of 800 Serbs registered in the village of Gusterica, 15 kilometers (nine miles) south from Pristina, had already cast their ballots by 10:00 am, local media reported. "The time has come that we ourselves decide about our own fate," 25-year-old technician Dragan Ivanovic said after casting the ballot. However, the one-third of Serbs living in the north near the Serbian border were boycotting the poll and had prevented election authorties from opening most of the polling stations in the region. Nesrin Lushta of the central election commission said only four polling stations in the area were open. "We have foreseen such a situation and are planning to sent alternative and mobile polling teams in the area to provide conditions for voting" to ethnic Albanians living there, said Lushta. Kosovo seceded from Serbia in February 2008 despite strong opposition by Belgrade, having been run by a UN mission since the end of the 1998-99 war. According to the electoral commission, 22 of the 74 political parties, coalitions and individual candidates in the polls represent Serbs. The Serb community as a whole rejected the independence declaration and have kept strong links with authorities in Belgrade, receiving financial and political support from the Serbian government. More then 60 countries, including the United States and all but five European Union members have recognised Kosovo's independence. In his last address ahead of the polls, President Fatmir Sejdiu on Friday called for a massive turnout, saying the elections were crucial for the nation's stability. "It is a special feeling to vote in your own country for the first time in your life," said 72-year-old pensioner Nexhi Arifi, an ethnic Albanian voting at a Pristina school. The main contenders are Sejdiu's Democratic League of Kosovo (DLK) and Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), trailed by the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) of former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj. Kosovo police have stepped up security for election day and 13,000 NATO-led peacekeeping forces were on standby. Polling stations were due to close at 7:00 pm. The first unofficial results are expected by midnight. A runoff will be held on December 13 in municipalities where candidates fail to win more than 50 percent of the votes in the first round. The polls were being monitored by 3,000 local and international observers, including an EU mission and a European Parliament delegation.