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"Some 25 million South Africans took to the polls on Wednesday to participate in the country's general election.\nSouth Africa's election marks the fifth democratic vote since the end of apartheid, 20 years ago. The country's first general election, post-apartheid, took place in 1994.\nSee also: Preparing for Progress: 14 Photos From Afghanistan Before Historic Election\nThere was widespread attention on Wednesday's vote largely because it marked the first time the \"born free\" generation could participate in a general election. \"Born free\" voters are citizens born after 1994 and the end of apartheid.\nStill, only one-third of young adults, aged 18 to 20, were registered to vote.\n\"We're generally seeing a youth that is still quite disillusioned by the current political landscape in South Africa,\" Lauren Tracey, a researcher with the Institute for Security Studies, told Al Jazeera. \"They don't feel as if their vote is going to make a difference.\"\nThe youth that did participate, such as Shandu Thabisile, were excited and nervous, showing up to the polls at 6 a.m. \"I came [to Inanda] to vote because this is where Mandela voted all those years ago,\" Thabisile told Al Jazeera.\nAcross 22,000 polling stations, South Africans voted for 29 parties on the ballot. With a reported 65% of the vote, the African National Congress is favored to win, despite allegations of political scandal and criticism over a \"sluggish\" economy, according to Reuters.\nCheck out the photos, below, of South Africa's momentous election:\n\n\nSouth Africa Elections\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPeople stand in line to vote in the township of Nyanga on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa on May 7.\n\nImage: Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSouth African voter Molefi Matabana casts his ballot at a polling station in Bekkersdal township during the early hours of May 7. \n\nImage: MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBallots printed with names and photos of election candidates and their political parties are seen at a polling station in the township of Nyanga on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa on May 7. \n\nImage: Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWomen wave as South African president and leader of the African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, arrives to cast his vote in Ntolwane, South Africa on May, 7. \n\nImage: Associated Press/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nElectoral commission officials look at an army truck parked outside a polling station in the impoverished Bekkersdal township on May 6, 2014. \n\nImage: MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSouth Africans form a long line to vote at a polling station in Alexandra, South Africa -- north of Johannesburg -- on May 7.\n\nImage: Themba Hadebe/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA woman casts her ballot in Nyanga township on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa on May 7.\n\nImage: Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nANC party members check voters before they enter the polling stating in Mount Fletcher, Eastern Cape, South Africa on May 7.\n\nImage: Jerome Delay/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAfter a polling station was burned down overnight, South African wait to enter a tent  erected in the morning to vote in Bekkersdal, South Africa on May 7.\n\nImage: Ben Curtis/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA man looks into a polling station before voting in the township of Barcelona on May 7. \n\nImage: Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAn elderly woman waits for help to cast her vote in Sterkspruit, Eastern Cape, South Africa on May 7. \n\nImage: Jerome Delay/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAn Independent Electoral official stamps a voters identity book during a special vote in Khayelitsha ahead of the general election on May 6.\n\nImage: JENNIFER BRUCE/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA young boy holding a balloon waits for his father to cast his vote at a polling station near the house of the late former President Nelson Mandela, in the Soweto township of Johannesburg, South Africa.\n\nImage: Ben Curtis/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNelson Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, center, greets community members during a tour in the streets of Bekkersdal, on May 7, in the Gauteng province.\n\nImage: AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA woman wearing a shirt of former South African President Nelson Mandela, casts her ballot in the township of Nyanga on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa on May 7.\n\nImage: Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTwo voters take a selfie outside a polling station as they wait to vote for the general elections on May 7 in Cape Town.\n\nImage: JENNIFER BRUCE/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSouth Africans line up to vote before dawn at a polling station that was burned down overnight in the town of Bekkersdal, South Africa on May 7.\n\nImage: Ben Curtis/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA man, left, runs past an election commission banner in the township of Barcelona in the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa on May 7. \n\nImage: Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSouth Africans line up to vote at a polling station at a informal settlement in Zandspruit, South Africa on May 7.\n\nImage: Themba Hadebe/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA young girl watches as her mother casts her vote in Eden Park, South Africa on May 7.\n\nImage: Themba Hadebe/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA woman, with her thumbnail marked to prove that she has voted, picks up her identity book in Eden Park, South Africa on May 7. \n\nImage: Themba Hadebe/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA woman gets ready to vote as part of the general elections on May 7 at a polling station in Soweto, Johannesburg.\n\nImage: FEDERICO SCOPPA/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nArchbishop Desmond Tutu shares a laugh with his wife Leah Tutu (right) after casting his ballot as part of the general elections in Cape Town on May 7. \n\nImage: JENNIFER BRUCE/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPeople wait in front of a polling station to vote as part of the general elections at the Ntolwane Primary School in the rural village of Nkandla on May 7.\n\nImage: RAJESH JANTILAL/AFP/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHave something to add to this story? 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