Country holds first openly contested poll as it aims to make crucial transformation from military rule to democracy.Counting of ballots is under way in Myanmar after voting ended in the country's first openly contested parliamentary election in more than 25 years.
Excitement was high as voters had the chance on Sunday to decide if the military-backed ruling party will hold on to power, or hand over power to the opposition led by pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi.
Polling passed smoothly, with no violence or unrest reported.
"This day we can make a change for the future, for the brighter future for our country," a voter in Yangon, the country's largest city, told Al Jazeera.
Many started lining up at booths across Yangon
well in advance of polls opening at 6am local time, and it took up to an hour for many to make it through the line and into the voting centres.
"This election is seen as more inclusive and legitimate compared with the last election five years ago," Al Jazeera's Florence Looi reported from Yangon.
"International observers have been allowed in. People who didn't bother voting in the 2010 election are turning up to cast their ballots."
Daw Nilar Tin, 48, and her daughter Su Chan Myae San, 21, said they cast their ballots as early as they could and stayed at the precinct the whole day, excited to hear the result of the counting.
Daw Nilar Tin said that for her three children's sake, she hopes that the opposition will win.As Suu Kyi turned up to vote in Yangon, hundreds of reporters scrambled to get a photo of the opposition leader, prompting her security to forcefully shove them aside.
Meanwhile, her supporters repeatedly shouted, "Mother Aung San Suu Kyi".
Her party won the election in 1990, but the military overruled the decision and put her under house arrest. She spent much of her time between 1989 and 2010 in some form of detention.
Since her release after the 2010 election, the Nobel peace laureate has led protests for reform.
The military government handed power to a semi-civilian government in 2011, but the army still dominates politics after decades in power.
A quarter of seats in parliament are reserved for military appointees, and the army will keep control of three large ministries, including that of home affairs.
The parliament chooses the president. Suu Kyi is barred from the post.
Despite the poll being hailed as a breakthrough for democracy, there are some obvious flaws.
About 1.3 million Rohingya Muslims are excluded from the vote.
Many of them came from Bangladesh generations ago, but Myanmar's government continues to treat them as foreigners, and does not officially recognise them.
Most live in Rakhine state, where hundreds have been killed since 2012. The UN says they are one of the most persecuted ethnic groups in the world.
Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from Sittwe in Rakhine state, said many in the camp he visited were frustrated by the fact they cannot vote - but also slightly hopeful.
"The people I've spoken to say that if they could vote, they'd probably vote for Aung San Suu Kyi party even though she and her party have not come out to support the Rohingya or spoken out against the crimes they have suffered over the last few years," our correspondent said.
"They say a change would be good, that it can't get worse than it's been under the current government."
There are also seven townships and hundreds of villages where voting did not take place because of security concerns.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) issued a statement on Sunday, accusing the ruling USDP of loaning $100 to households with the promise that they do not need to pay it back if the party wins.
While Suu Kyi is barred by the current constitution from becoming president - her children are foreign nationals - an NLD majority would also allow her to manoeuvre politically, paving the way for constitutional amendments, and eventually an appointment to the presidency.
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