Hardline Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko is expected to retain his grip on power the opposition called for voters to boycott parliamentary elections.
The two main opposition parties urged people to go fishing and mushrooming rather than vote in what they see as a sham exercise to produce a chamber which largely rubber-stamps Mr Lukashenko's directives.
But by mid-afternoon, turnout in most Belarus regions was above the 50% required to avoid a repeat election and allow Mr Lukashenko to present the it as a genuine democratic process.
Four days of early voting by students, armed service staff and police in the tightly-controlled country had already produced a 19% turnout, according to official figures.
Mr Lukashenko, who arrived at his polling station with his young son Kolya, praised the "calmness" of the polls.
"There is nothing to criticise so far," he told journalists.
"They should envy our boring elections. We don't need any revolutions or upheavals."
Western monitoring agencies have not judged an election in Belarus, ruled by Mr Lukashenko for 18 years, free and fair since 1995.
A former Soviet state farm director once described by the US administration of George Bush as the last dictator of Europe, Mr Lukashenko cracked down on street protests against his re-election in December 2010.
Scores of his opponents - including several who stood against him - were arrested. Many now either lie low after periods in jail or have fled the country.
Human rights bodies said the run-up to the poll was marked by arrests and detention of opposition activists.
State-run TV and radio made no mention of the boycott call. Opposition groups were prevented from holding street protests or giving out leaflets to support their action.
Anatoly Lebedko, head of the opposition United Civic Party, said his party's leaflets calling on people to take their families to the park, go fishing or stroll in the woods rather than vote had been banned.
Activists who had tried to distribute them were stopped from doing so by police and the leaflets seized, he said.
Mr Lukashenko, touring farms 186 miles from the capital Minsk on Friday, said of the opposition: "They are afraid of going to the people."
He said his opponents were financed by Western groups and did not really want power. "They have been given a lot of cash. They have enough," he said.
Analysts say the election is not likely to promote any strong personality capable of competing with Lukashenko among the deputies.
"The opposition is virtually broken. It has few resources and there is no real programme," said Belarussian independent political analyst Alexander Klaskovsky.
Despite US and European Union sanctions, which prevent Mr Lukashenko and his inner circle travelling to anywhere in the West, the small country has weathered a currency crisis, largely thanks to Russia, which provided £2.7billion in loans and investments.
