As voting got underway in Myanmar's historic by-elections there was a slight glitch at this polling station in Yangon.

The brief failure of the lighting system did not dim the enthusiasm of voters.

Many see the nation's third election in half a century as a critical turning point.

Its conduct is crucial to the lifting of some sanctions against the long-isolated country.

As the polls opened European Union observers said the situation appeared calm.

SOUNDBITE: IVO BELET, EUROPEAN UNION OBSERVER SAYING (English):

"We're happy to see that everything is going peacefully and we hope that the whole day can be run in a peaceful way and we'll make an evaluation later of course on the basis of all the polling sessions that we will be seeing. We will be working all day from this morning until tonight and also try to follow the counting of the votes."

A total of 45 parliamentary seats are up for grabs.

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy Party are fighting for all but one of them.

Paul Chapman, Reuters