The vote for the largely ceremonial post comes less than three months after a deal with Athens on Skopje's name change came into force, ending a decades-long identity dispute between the neighbours.

The candidates for what is in any case a largely ceremonial post are Stevo Pendarovski, who is backed by the ruling leftwing administration; Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova of the rightwing opposition; and Belrim Reka, from the country's ethnic Albanian minority.

Gjorge Ivanov, the outgoing nationalist president, cannot run again, having served the maximum permitted two terms.

The presidential vote needs more than 40 percent turnout to get a decisive result. But many voters are disillusioned with what they see as a corrupt political system and some observers say the vote could fail to attract the requisite numbers.

A consultative referendum approved changing the name of the country to North Macedonia last September, but the result was undermined by the fact that it failed to get 40 percent of voters to turn out.

Since it was only consultative, the government and parliament were free to go ahead with the historic name change to settle a decades-old dispute with neighbouring Greece, which means its neighbour will no longer stand in the way of their EU or NATO membership applications.

But while the deal was welcomed in the European Union, many of the country's 1.8 million voters are more concerned with bread-and-butter issues such as jobs and earnings.

The unemployment rate is running at more than 20 percent, the average monthly wage is stuck at around 400 euros ($450) and many people have emigrated, demoralised by what they see as a lack of opportunities for people without the right connections.

Ljupco Nikovski, a 58-year-old police officer, said he was backing the opposition rightwing VMRO-DPMNE.

Nikovski said he had "never fell so desperate".

Emilija Stojanoska, 49, said her protests against the previous rightwing administration had been for nothing.

The arrival of the Social Democrats in power with the backing of the country's ethnic Albanian parties had changed nothing, she said.

If a low turnout forces a re-run of the vote, it might trigger a fresh political crisis that puts pressure on Prime Minister Zoran Zaev's administration.

While Zaev has talked down the risks of a low turnout, he has nevertheless set out possible solutions to such a scenario.

They include a re-run of the election, doing away with the 40-percent minimum threshold, or even giving parliament the power to appoint a president.

Nazim Rashid, senior editor of the Albanian-language channel TV Alsat, said none of those proposals address the real problem.

"The apathy ... in particular that of young people, Macedonian and Albanians, is immense."

Politicians had so far failed to tackle unemployment, widespread corruption, nepotism and launch much-needed judicial reforms, he added.

"A growing number think that their vote will not bring about significant change," law professor Dragan Gocevski said.

Voting starts at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) and runs until 7:00 pm (1700 GMT).