BBC's Lee Carter: "No appetite for another referendum"

Polls consistently show the ruling Parti Quebecois with more support than the pro-Canadian unity Liberals and likely to add to its 77 seats in the 125-seat provincial legislature.

And a convincing Parti Quebecois victory on Monday could well signal moves towards another referendum on the province's secession from the rest of Canada.

However polls during the campaign also put support for Quebec independence at its lowest level in four years.

The 5.2 million eligible voters have told pollsters that they do not want another round of what has been called the "neverendum referendum".

In a 1980 referendum, voters turned down independence by a 60% to 40% margin.

In another referendum in 1995, Quebec again voted against sovereignty, but by a narrow 1.2% margin.

That close call shocked Canada and sparked debate about whether Quebec's demands for greater powers within Canada should be met to avoid breaking up the world's second-largest country.

Winning conditions

Quebec Premier and Parti Quebecois leader Lucien Bouchard has said he will hold another vote on secession only if he thinks the separatists can win and "it will not be tomorrow".

Liberal Party leader Jean Charest: Opposed to further referendums

In the meantime he has said he will concentrate on the economy.

If the polls are right, the election may also be a humbling defeat for Jean Charest, who left his post as head of the Progressive Conservative Party in federal politics last March to lead the Liberal Party in his native Quebec.

He was seen as the best hope for those wanting to stave off a separatist victory at the polls and avoid another referendum on Quebec independence.