roch marc christian kabore served as prime minister under the former president. blaise compaore. he left government to form the m.p.p. party in protest. she up against zephirin diabre, leader of the liberal upc party, and a former finance minister. the former ruling party, the c.d. p is barred from fielding a presidential candidate. mohammed adow joins me from ouagadougo, the capital. how is it going there? >> well, things have been going smooth so far. the voters that we have seen in the day have seen, and many cast votes, but across the country voting is going on in more than 17,000 polling stations. these are historic elections in every way you look at it. not only are they the most free and fair elections the people of burkina faso voted in, but also many people, this country's population, 70% have not known another leader. they are voting because of voter apathy. with people in burkina faso saying they do not want to vote in elections considered won. the campaign period went without hitches >>> a last minute hunt for voters as campaigns drew to a close. three-quarters of the

roch marc christian kabore. >> this is an important election for the country, the first time in 50 years our people will have a civilian president. a call on people to come out and vote. >> the election marks the end of the period of blue jays's removal. he was one of the longest surging presidents. the vote was to have been held last month, and was delayed by a coup in september. led by members of the elite presidential guard. >>> with blaise compaore dominating politics for the past three decades, past elections have been marred by low voter turn out and apathy, many did not see the need to vote. but today many are voting for the first time in their lives. >> 30-year-old is one of them. >> if we did anything in the past, we can do anything. we go up and we had the same president. we are voting and voting, talking about people. things don't change. >> the economic block monitors the polls. so are hundreds of african union and local observers. >> translation: voting has moved. if things go the way they are, it looks to be a free and fair protest. >> reporter: security has been tightened