Given the history of coups, political stability has been a big issue leading up to the election, as have racial tensions and economic issues.
"Bainimarama does look set to secure his second victory at the polls and has already led the country for 13 years through a period of relative stability," said Jonathan Pryke, the director of the Pacific Islands programme at the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank.
Many in the nation of 920,000 seem appreciative of the economic gains made under Bainimarama.
"There are no school fees. Before, I paid a couple hundred for school fees," said Mere Rigamoto, 42, a mother of three boys. "Bainimarama's Government is not bad. He's okay."
But Bainimarama has a troubled political history that has contributed to the coup culture. There are rumours he could stage another coup should he lose the election.
"We're bound to have another coup if he doesn't win," said 30-year-old Robert Lum On, a recent university graduate.
Fiji became independent from Britain in 1970. In 1987, Rabuka staged two racially charged coups to return rule to indigenous Fijians, called "iTaukei," and away from Fijians of Indian descent, or Indo-Fijians.
iTaukei make up about 57 per cent of the population, while Indo-Fijians are now 38 per cent.
Indo-Fijians have been a major ethnic group in Fiji since colonial times, when the British brought them in to work the sugar cane plantations.
Many favour Bainimarama, whose new constitution in 2013 removed race quotas from Parliament.
"Bainimarama's key success has been to establish the name 'Fijian' for all citizens of Fiji," said Richard Herr, a professor at Fiji National University who is based in Australia.
"His legislation has made campaigning on race, or even having a racially based party, illegal."
Bainimarama has accused Rabuka of stoking the flames of racism that continue to divide the nation.
But some iTaukei believe Rabuka will help restore their prestige, and favour his promise to bring back the nation's Great Council of Chiefs, which Bainimarama disbanded.
Critics deride the PM as authoritarian, but since forcing himself into power he has refashioned his image into that of a stable, legitimate leader.
His appeal was bolstered when he assumed the United Nations COP23 presidency in November last year. In that role, which he holds until next month, he shaped Fiji into a pioneer on climate change issues.
With that platform, Fiji inserted small-island developing states into the international conversation on climate change. The islands are on the front lines of global warming, rising sea levels, and ocean acidification.
After the 2006 coup, Australia and New Zealand imposed sanctions on Fiji, and Bainimarama reoriented regional alliances towards China.
His critics accuse him of selling out the country to the Chinese.
The Lowy Institute says Fiji got about $360 million in aid from China between 2006 and 2016, putting it behind only Papua New Guinea in the Pacific region. China Exim Bank holds 39 per cent of Fiji's externally held public debt, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Fiji has one of the Pacific Islands' healthiest economies and GDP is predicted to grow above 3 per cent annually through 2020. Tourism is the bedrock of the economy, accounting for more than 40 per cent of GDP.
Bainimarama's Government takes credit for increasing social services, including free primary and secondary education, free bus fares for seniors, and aid after cyclones.
But poverty is rife. His opponents have vowed to raise the F$2.32 ($1.61) an hour minimum wage.
Many say Fiji has stabilised under Bainimarama. "His prime ministership to date has been marked with a steady movement back towards democracy," said Pryke.
Polls close at 6pm today.
As well as Bainimarama's FijiFirst party and Rabuka's Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa), the National Federation Party (NFP) is also expected to be an election contender.
In 2014, FijiFirst won 59 per cent of votes, Sodelpa won 28 per cent, and NFP won 5.5 per cent.
- AP
