Voters have started heading to the polls to elect MSPs at the fifth Scottish Parliament election.

A total of 129 MSPs will be elected to serve for the next five years. Voters will elect a local constituency MSP and then elect a regional MSP from the on the regional list.

Constituency voting will take place on a purple ballot paper and the regional vote will be on a peach ballot paper.

No candidates except independents are named on the regional list - only parties are named.

The 56 regional seats will be allocated on a proportional basis after the constituency results have been declared. Before the election, political parties internally selected their list of regional candidates.

The list of regional candidates was sent to voters with their polling cards.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale was the first party leader to take to the polls on Thursday, voting at St Ninian & Triduana RC Church in Edinburgh at around 8am.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon followed suit shortly afterwards, voting at Broomhouse Community Hall in Glasgow.

Later in the morning, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson attended Cafe Camino at St Mary's Parish Centre in Edinburgh to cast her vote.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie went to Tabernacle Hall in Keltybridge, Kinross-shire, to cast his vote.

Finally, co-convener of the Scottish Greens Patrick Harvie cast his vote at Notre Dame Primary School in Glasgow.

To vote in the election you must be 16 years old on the day of the poll and have registered to vote by midnight on April 18.

This is the first Scottish Parliament election at which 16 and 17 year olds can vote. The change of rules follows the extension of the vote to this age group at the 2014 independence referendum.

A total of 4,099,547 people are registered and eligible to vote in the election.

The Scottish Parliament Information Centre estimates that parties "generally need to win at least 6-7% of the vote" to gain a regional MSP.

The first result is expected to be declared at around 12.30am on Friday.

Polling stations opened at 7am on Thursday and are due to close at 10pm.