VOTING got under way today in one of the most crucial elections in living memory.

Islanders have until 8 pm tonight to vote for six Senators whose term of office will run through until 2011, taking in the aftermath of the zero-ten tax changes and the expected £100m tax deficit.

The Senators elected today will also be the first to serve their entire terms under the ministerial system of government that will replace the committee system at the end of the year.

Voters are expected to turn out in larger numbers than ever before following a concerted registration campaign, public debates on subjects including the introduction of a sales tax and the future of the waterfront, and the re-emergence of political parties for the first time in several decades.

The hustings tour of the Island finished on Monday evening in St Helier, and Islanders are going to the polls today in the 20th Senatorial election, and the last one before the move to ministerial government in December.