About 30 million registered Colombians voted peacefully in legislative elections on Sunday, widely seen as a strong indicator for the May 30 presidential election.

Voters were to select from about 2,500 candidates 102 senators, 166 members of the House of Representatives and five representatives of the regional Andean Parliament.

Primaries were also held to choose presidential candidates of the Conservative Party and the Green party.

Some 250,000 troops and police were deployed across the country to guard some 77,000 polling stations.

President Alvaro Uribe cast his ballot at the historical Plaza Bolivar in downtown Bogota, a few minutes after voting started.

"Democracy is completely opposite to violence. Democracy is completely opposite to corruption. Democracy is a superior commitment of the human being with freedom, a profound commitment with the conscience," Uribe said after voting.

"The armed forces are doing a great task protecting the democracy in the whole country," he added.

Defense Minister abriel Silva said the elections were held peacefully throughout the country and special security forces had been deployed in the southwestern department of Cauca to guard against guerrilla sabotage.

"We can guarantee that these will be the safest elections in the last 30 years. We have started the election day with a report of total normality and tranquility, except for some isolated incidents," Silva said.

Carlos Ariel Sanchez, national registrar of Colombia who is one of the organizers of the elections, said polling stations in the northwestern department of Choco were disturbed by guerrilla forces, but order had been restored.

Enrique Correa, chief of the electoral observation mission from the Organization of American States (OAS), said the elections were proceeding peacefully and a report on the process would be submitted next week.

"We hope that the normality that we are observing in Bogota happens throughout the country," Correa said.

Some 210 political kidnappings took place during the 2002 elections, and seven in 2006, Interior and Justice Minister Fabio Valencia said.

"We are trying to protect the elections from this type of terrorist incident which is aimed at scaring people away from voting," he added.