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Moldovans have begun voting in parliamentary elections in the former Soviet republic, in a ballot that could deepen a split between pro-Western and pro-Russian forces.

Sunday's vote in the country wedged between Romania and Ukraine comes amid concerns about endemic corruption and the erosion of democracy. Parties need to win 6 percent of the overall ballot to enter Parliament.

More than 3 million voters are eligible to elect representatives for the next four years to the 101-seart legislature.

The incumbent ruling alliance headed by the nominally pro-European Democratic Party has lost support over rampant corruption and falling living standards.

The voting system has been changed in what critics say is a ploy to help the two main parties— the broadly pro-Russian Socialists and the Democrats— to carve up influence.