A unique ballpoint pen, imported from neighboring China, which can be easily erased, is a best seller in Myitkyina, the capital of Burma’s northern Kachin State, a day before the election, residents said.

Myitkyina residents told the Thailand-based Kachin News Group, the pen will be used tomorrow at the polls to convert votes for opposition parties into votes for the USDP.

The black-ink Chinese ball pens, have been mainly bought by members of the Burmese regime-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), since early this week, said sources close to local USDP members.

During the 2008 constitutional referendum, the military authorities in Kachin State converted NO votes, cast by voters opposed to the constitution, into YES votes supporting it.

Now, advance votes have been collected from government personnel and civil workers, as well as aged people in different areas of Kachin State, since yesterday.

A police officer in N’mawk (Momauk) township, in Bhamo District, said he voted yesterday without selecting any party, but only writing his signature. His vote was cancelled by the authorities, he said.

The police officer also said officers have been instructed by junta authorities to vote only for the USDP, or the government aligned Unity and Democracy Party of Kachin State (UDPKS).

The military engineered election being held tomorrow is the first election in 20 years in Burma. However, most Kachin voters are totally confused by the process and have no favorite parties.