IMNA :The collecting of pre-votes taken yesterday, at Mudon and Thanphyuzayart Townships, in Mon state, was conducted by both the Election Commission (EC) and members of the government-backed United Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). These pre-votes were taken at the residence of the elderly and the ill.

According to one voter from Mudon Township, the EC was worried that they would lose the pre-vote ballots for the actual election day, so the EC collected the ballots with the help of the USDP.

One villager from Kamawet village explained that, “the USDP came in person to collect the votes. They asked the voter who they wished to vote for, but then ticked the ballot in favor of the USDP. This villager explained that the ballots are made of very thin, see-through paper, and it was easy to see where they placed the tick mark.

However, those Kamawet villagers who had not received their voter registration number were not allowed to vote. The voter registration number was done in order to make the voting process quick, easy, and efficient.

Yesterday afternoon, those villagers who had still not received their voter registration number went to the EC and asked for one. The EC replied that it was too busy and would not give them a number, effectively telling them that they couldn’t participate in the vote.

The villagers surmised that the EC would not give them a voter registration number because they feared these villagers would vote for the All Mon Regions Democracy Party (AMDP), and the EC is backed by the current Burmese government.