Voters register at a polling station in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Dec. 22, 2019. Voting for Uzbekistan's parliamentary and local council elections began around the country on Sunday morning. (Photo by Zafar Khalilov/Xinhua)

TASHKENT, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan's parliamentary elections have thus far seen a voter turnout of more than 42 percent by midday, according to the country's election commission on Sunday.

According to Uzbek law, the elections are valid if voter turnout is above 33 percent.

According to the Central Election Commission, Uzbekistan is using a Unified Electronic Voter List for the first time, with more than 20.5 million voters registered.

Around 10,260 polling stations are set up for the elections, 55 of which are located abroad at the country's diplomatic missions.

About 1.7 million voters outside the country can vote in the overseas polls.

A total of 825 observers, representatives of nine international organizations and 41 foreign countries, including China, can observe the election process in all regions of the country.

Voting will last until 20:00 local time (1500 GMT).

Five officially registered political parties, the National Revival Party, the People's Democratic Party, the Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, the Social Democratic Party Adolat and the Ecological Party will compete for 150 seats in the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan (the lower house of the parliament).