Sa Eh Sue — Of the many eligible voters in Karen state's seven townships, only 20 percent will be able to vote correctly in the upcoming election, claim members of civil society organizations.
Ko Saw Kyaw Swar from the Karen State Civil Society Network (KSCN), a group that has been giving voter education across Karen State told the BNI Newsroom on Wednesday that the majority of the voters lack voting experience.
“The voters will cast their votes, but there will only be about 20 percent who can cast their votes
correctly because they are illiterate. Also, they have never encountered it [voting] before. Those in big cities can watch [voter education programs] on TV. The villages don’t have TVs so they don’t even know how to stamp” he said.
Besides, the voters only have to tick their ballots during previous elections but now they are supposed to stamp their ballots in the upcoming election. Saw Kyaw Swar says he worries about the ballots becoming invalid after being stamped twice and he does not know what will happen on Election Day.
Nan Say Awa from the Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party, who is currently a state parliament MP and is running for the State Parliament from Hpa-an Constituency 2, said many rural people are unprepared for the election..
“Many of the constituents aren’t ready to vote. The groups giving voter education can’t reach all areas. There are many villagers so they lack knowledge. One thing for sure, no more than 50 percent can vote correctly due to the high number of language difficulties and illiteracy,” he said.
“We have to give trainings in our area. We still haven’t been able to do it yet. Many of the local
residents still don’t know how to vote,” said Saw Kyaw Poe, a resident of Kawnwe village in Kawkareik Township.
A total of 256 candidates including independent candidates and those from 18 political parties are running in Karen State. The state has over 800,000 eligible voters and polling stations will not be open in 94 village tracts for what officials say are security reasons.
