Polls opened in Singapore on Friday to elect the country's ninth president since independence.

Polling stations will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time, after which counting of votes will begin.

Senior investor Ng Kok Song, former deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and Tan Kin Lian, former income chief of the National Trades Union Congress, are standing for election to replace incumbent Halimah Yacob.

As the head of the city-state, the Singaporean president is empowered to veto government budgets and key public appointments, authorize anti-corruption investigations, and safeguard the country's fiscal reserve.

The term of the current president, Halimah Yacob, Singapore's first woman president, ends on September 13. 

This year's presidential election in the diverse city-state will be open to all ethnic groups, unlike the last time, in 2017, when the post was controversially reserved for those of Malay ethnicity.

(With input from agencies)