Millions of Egyptian voters took to the polls on Wednesday, to mark the country’s first Presidential elections since the emerging from 60 years of military-backed rule.

The elections have been hailed as a transition to democracy, since the overthrow of President Mubarak and the assumption of power by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Praising the event, US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said,

"I don't know if you've seen the ballot. It's really quite stunning. It's about this long with many, many candidates."

"Today does mark the start of a first round of Egypt's historic presidential elections. It's a very important milestone for Egypt's transition. Egyptians are voting. And we look forward to the outcome."

General Mohamed el-Assar also reiterated the importance of the elections and attempted to alleviate concerns of the military holding onto power, noting,

'With these elections, we will have completed the last step in the transitional period.'

Commenting on any expected difficulties in the hand-over of power to the newly elected President, Nuland noted,

"I don't have a crystal ball, but they've said that they will turn over power to a civilian elected president. That is our expectation, that they will keep their word in that regard."

The elections are being held over two days with 13,000 polling stations across the country, as 12 candidates battle to make it through to a run-off in June.

Front running candidates include the former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, Mohammed Mursi, who heads Muslim Brotherhood and Ahmed Shafiq, former commander of the air force and Mubarak’s last Prime Minister.