The results of the controversial Burundi legislative poll will be announced either on Thursday or Friday, the country’s elections body said on Wednesday.

“The counting is completed in all the polling stations throughout Burundi," Election Commission spokesman Prosper Ntahorwamiye told AFP, with those votes now being collated and taken to larger centres for final tallies before results can be announced.

Voting on Monday was mired by violence and reports from the capital Bujumbura said the streets were mostly deserted despite a claim by the Independent National Elections Commission (CENI) saying turnout was between 75 and 80 per cent.

President Pierre Nkurunzinza on Monday defied the call by the international community to move the elections ahead until the political situation normalises.

Opposition parties boycotted the elections saying the political environment was not conducive for a free and fair poll.

Local news reports say there is a general “lack of enthusiasm for the legislative and municipal elections”, adding that with the exception of the ruling CNDD-FDD and UPRONA politicians, the opposition and independent observers were hardly present.

Last week, the country’s second vice president, Gervais Rufyikiri, and the president of the national assembly, Pie Ntavyohanyuma, defected and fled to Belgium, accusing the president of trying to force his way to power at the expense the nation.

READ: Parliamentary polls kick off in Burundi despite tense weekend

The African Union (AU), US, European Union (EU) and other foreign governments have refrained from sending in observation missions in an election where the president’s party CNDD-FDD is expected to sweep almost all seats in the national assembly and the senate.

However, the president’s spokesperson Willy Nyamitwe said he was "very satisfied" with the election process, adding that the "people responded massively and early."

A US State Department official said Washington is “deeply disappointed that the government of Burundi moved forward with parliamentary elections today despite woefully inadequate conditions for them to be credible”.

John Kirby, the State Department spokesperson, said the president has disregarded “the strong urging of the African Union, the UN Secretary General and many other voices calling for a delay.”

“We urge the Burundian government to return to the table and to participate seriously in the political dialogue facilitated by UN,” he said.