Voting opened at 6:00 am (0300 GMT) for the country's 152,000 eligible voters with results expected by Saturday. Few doubt the incumbent, who has been in power since 1999 and had the constitution amended last year to run again, would secure another term.
The ballot was boycotted by the main opposition groupings and Guelleh's only challenger, Mohamed Warsama Ragueh, is a former head of the constitutional council running as an "independent".
He was endorsed by a senior opposition figure but is not considered a serious threat to Guelleh's re-election bid.
"If there's an opposition coalition backing the independent candidate, it is in no way a threat to me. On the contrary, it strengthens democracy in our country," Guelleh told reporters Thursday.
"Since 1999, the opposition has been unable to find a leader and a social programme that are convincing to Djiboutians. The only thing they're good at is insulting me," he added.Continued
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