Polls in Kuwait are open for a parliamentary election boycotted by opposition groups.

The opposition says Saturday's election, held under a new electoral law, favors supporters of the Western-backed emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. The long-ruling al-Sabah family already controls the Kuwaiti Cabinet.

Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets of Kuwait City in October to protest the changes in the electoral law that they say would undercut their rising clout in the oil-rich nation.