Some 3.8 million Burundians are eligible to vote.
Tensions between Burundi's ethnic Hutu majority - comprising some 85% of the 10.5 million population - and the country's Tutsi minority have flared up regularly since independence from Belgium in 1962.
Incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza is seeking a 3rd term.Nkurunziza led a Hutu rebel group fighting the Tutsi-dominated army until a peace deal led to him becoming president in 2005
Three minor opposition leaders are running for the presidency. Mr Nkurunziza's four main rivals, including Agathon Rwasa, are boycotting the poll, but the electoral commission has kept their names on the ballot paper.
The African Union (AU) has not sent observers - the first time it has taken such a stance against a member state.
It says the security climate does not allow for free and fair elections.
The European Union has expressed a similar view, and has cut some aid to Burundi to show its anger with Nkurunziza.
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