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		</div><p>Voters in Burma&#8217;s first elections in 20 years have cast their ballots amid a barrage of criticism that the balloting was rigged in favour of the ruling military, as well as hope that some change toward democratic reform might nonetheless follow.</p>
<p>The junta did not disclose when the results would be announced, saying only that they could come &#8220;in time&#8221;.</p>
<p>It was almost certain, however, that through pre-election engineering the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party would emerge victorious despite widespread popular opposition to 48 years of military rule.</p>
<p>The streets of Yangon, Burma&#8217;s largest city, were unusually quiet and voter turnout appeared light at many polling stations. Some residents said they were staying home as rumours circulated that bombs would explode.</p>
<p>About 40,000 polling stations across the south-eastern Asian country opened at 6am and closed 10 hours later.</p>
<p>Riot police were deployed at some road junctions, but no soldiers were seen near the balloting sites.</p>
<p>The USDP fielded 1,112 candidates for a total of 1,159 seats in the two-house national parliament and 14 regional parliaments. Its closest rival, the National Unity Party backed by supporters of Burma&#8217;s previous military ruler, had 995 candidates.</p>
<p>The largest opposition party, the National Democratic Force, contested just 164 spots.</p>
<p>Election rules were written to benefit the USDP, and hundreds of potential opposition candidates &#8211; including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won a landslide victory in the last elections in 1990 but was barred from taking office &#8211; are under house arrest or in prison.</p>
<p>Several parties have complained that voters were strong-armed into voting for the pro-junta party, with some threatened that they would lose their jobs if they did not.</p>
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