The New Zealand public broadcaster, RNZ, reported that about 2,500 police were deployed to secure and monitor polling stations.

Polls have opened in New Caledonia for its first provincial elections since 2019, with a heavy police presence at voting stations on the French-ruled Pacific archipelago.

On Sunday morning, about 2,500 police officers were deployed to secure and monitor polling stations on election day, which began at 8am local time on Sunday (21:00 GMT Saturday), the New Zealand public broadcaster, RNZ, reported.

It said voters were already in a long queue outside a polling station at the Hotel de Ville in the capital, Noumea, before voting started.

About 192,000 voters will elect 76 councillors for the three provincial assemblies: 40 in the south province, 22 in the north province, and 14 in the Loyalty Islands.

From there, 54 of those elected will become members of the Pacific archipelago’s congress – the territory’s main governing body, authorised to pass local laws.

However, the election, initially planned for 2024, was delayed as the island was dealing with violent unrest between Indigenous Kanaks and French loyalists. It is expected to be crucial in shaping future talks with France on the status of the territory.

New Caledonia, in the southwest Pacific, about 1,500km (930 miles) east of Australia, is home to some 270,000 people, including 41 percent Melanesian Kanak and 24 percent of European origin, mostly French.

In 1863, New Caledonia was colonised by France and became an overseas territory in 1946. It has been the subject of a decades-long dispute over France’s role in its affairs.

Sunday’s election comes after the main pro-independence group rejected a deal with France that was intended to bring stability to the overseas territory.

The accord would have created a Caledonian state and established a Caledonian nationality protected in the French constitution; however, it would have scrapped any future referendums on independence.

So far, three referendums have been held on the future of the archipelago’s independence – in 2018, 2020, and 2021 – and all three returned majorities in favour of remaining part of France.

Pro-independence groups boycotted the third vote, which was held during the COVID-19 pandemic.