More than 30 million Colombian voters are eligible to cast their ballots in today's elections for a new Senate and a new House of Representatives.

The ruling conservative party of President Alvaro Uribe, who must step down in August after eight years in office, is expected to retain its majority in both houses of the Colombian parliament. Many people fear the elections will be marred by the powerful drug cartels and guerilla organisations. President Uribe says there have already been incidents involving bribery and intimidation of both politicians and voters.

In the past few years, parliament has been plagued by a series of corruption scandals. Dozens of MPs are under investigation for alleged ties to paramilitary groups and criminal organisations. Twelve MPs have already been sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.