Głosowanie zaczyna się teraz.

Głosowanie means voting or the vote / voting process, depending on context.

It comes from the verb głosować, which means to vote.
So:

• głosować = to vote
• głosowanie = voting

In this sentence, głosowanie is the thing that is beginning.

Because zaczynać się means to begin / to start in the sense of something beginning by itself.

Compare:

• zaczynać coś = to start something
• zaczynać się = to begin, to start

So:

• Film zaczyna się o ósmej. = The film starts at eight.
• On zaczyna film. = He is starting the film.

In your sentence, the voting is not starting something else. The voting itself is beginning, so Polish uses zaczyna się.

It is present tense.

More specifically, zaczyna is the 3rd person singular present form of zaczynać się.

So zaczyna się means:

• begins
• is beginning
• starts

Depending on context, English may translate it in slightly different ways.

Because the subject, głosowanie, is singular.

Even though English voting can sometimes feel like an activity rather than a countable thing, in Polish głosowanie is a singular noun, so the verb must also be singular:

• Głosowanie zaczyna się teraz. = singular subject + singular verb

If the subject were plural, the verb would be plural too:

• Wybory zaczynają się teraz. = The elections are starting now.

It is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence.

The sentence structure is basically:

• Głosowanie = subject
• zaczyna się = verb
• teraz = adverb

So głosowanie is the thing that begins.

In this sentence, się does not mean himself / herself / itself in a literal English sense. It is part of the verb zaczynać się.

Many Polish verbs use się to create meanings that English expresses without any extra word. Here it helps give the meaning to begin / to start.

So it is best to learn:

• zaczynać = to start something
• zaczynać się = to begin

In other words, treat zaczyna się as a unit of meaning.

Because in Polish, się is usually written as a separate word.

This is normal:

• Nazywam się Jan.
• Uczę się polskiego.
• Film zaczyna się teraz.

Even though it is separate in writing, it often belongs closely to the verb in meaning.

Yes. Polish word order is more flexible than English.

The neutral order here is:

• Głosowanie zaczyna się teraz.

But you could also say:

• Teraz zaczyna się głosowanie.
• Zaczyna się teraz głosowanie. (possible, but less neutral)

The most natural choice depends on what you want to emphasize:

• Głosowanie zaczyna się teraz. = neutral statement
• Teraz zaczyna się głosowanie. = emphasis on now

Teraz means now.

It indicates that the action is happening at this moment. So the sentence means that the voting is starting right now.

A few similar time words:

• teraz = now
• zaraz = in a moment / very soon
• już = already / now

For example:

• Głosowanie zaczyna się teraz. = The voting starts now.
• Głosowanie zacznie się zaraz. = The voting will start in a moment.

Because Polish often uses the present tense for something that is happening right now.

So zaczyna się teraz is very natural for is starting now or starts now.

English often chooses between:

• starts now
• is starting now

Polish simply uses the present tense here.

Yes. Głosowanie rozpoczyna się teraz is correct and means almost the same thing.

The difference is mostly style:

• zaczyna się = more everyday, common
• rozpoczyna się = a bit more formal or official

So if this were an announcement, rozpoczyna się might sound slightly more formal.

No, not in this meaning.

Głosowanie zaczyna teraz sounds incomplete or wrong, because zaczynać without się usually needs an object:

• Komisja zaczyna głosowanie teraz. = The committee is starting the vote now.

But if you want to say The voting is starting now, you need:

• Głosowanie zaczyna się teraz.

Yes. Głosowanie is neuter singular.

A useful clue is the ending -anie / -enie / -owanie, which often forms neuter verbal nouns in Polish.

Because it is neuter singular, it takes the same 3rd person singular verb form as other singular nouns.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• głosowanie ≈ gwoh-soh-VAH-nyeh
• zaczyna ≈ zah-CHIH-nah
• się ≈ shyeh (roughly; the nasal quality is often light in normal speech)
• teraz ≈ TEH-rahs

A few sounds to watch:

• ł sounds like English w
• cz sounds like ch in chop
• sz / ś / się are all different Polish sounds, though beginners often hear them as kinds of sh

Stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable:

• gło-so-WA-nie
• za-CZY-na
• TE-raz

Because Polish does not have articles like a or the.

So głosowanie can mean:

• voting
• the voting
• sometimes even a vote

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is why Głosowanie zaczyna się teraz can naturally mean The voting starts now even though there is no separate word for the.

It is fairly neutral.

It would sound natural in many situations:

• an announcement
• a meeting
• an election setting
• a TV show or contest

If you want it to sound more official, you might choose:

• Głosowanie rozpoczyna się teraz.

But Głosowanie zaczyna się teraz is completely normal and correct.