The people of Trinidad and Tobago are voting to elect a new government. For the first time, 41 seats are at stake, up from the 36 in place since independence. The change was made after an 18-18 tie between the People's National Movement (PNM) and the United National Congress (UNC) in a previous poll. Since then, a thirty, the Congress of the People, has emerged after its leading members fell out with the UNC. The PNM and COP are fielding candidates in all 41 constituencies while the UNC is contesting 39. The UNC has opted out of Tobago where the island's two seats are being fought by the PNM, COP, and an alliance of the Tobago United Force and Democratic Action Congress. Crime was the biggest single issue in the run-up to the election, according to many political analysts. The distribution of country's oil and gas resources also featured on campaign paltforms. A record 990,000 voters are registered to vote at 2,042 polling stations. The last elections were held in October 2002. Reprinted from bbccaribbean.com