Nearly 1,300 Burmese soldiers and police officers have applied to vote in Mohnyin District in the country’s general election in November, the district election commission said.

The announcement came after the first draft of the eligible voter list was released.

A total of 16,000 people have applied to be added to the final draft of the voter list in Mohnyin District. Among them are 900 Burma Army soldiers and nearly 400 police officers, the Mohnyin District Election Commission secretary said.

 

“We still have not closed the voter list,” secretary Myo Min Oo told KNG. “Currently, a combined nearly 1,300 soldiers and policemen have applied to vote in Mohnyin District.”

He added that the commission had not specifically sought out voting applications from soldiers, so he did not know the exact number that had applied, and that form submission is ongoing.

“We did not make a separate list for soldiers, because soldiers will have to vote in polling stations with other civilian voters,” Myo Min Oo explained. “We do not write their rank such as major or captain on the voter list. We write their name as starting with ‘U’ or ‘Daw.’”

According to the commission secretary, there were more than 6,000 soldiers who voted in Mohnyin District in the 2015 general election. They all voted in advance.

This year, soldiers will be able to vote in 12 polling stations in the district.

According to the Mohnyin District election office, there are a total of 416,705 eligible voters who will cast votes at 280 polling stations. In 2015, there were total of 265,191 eligible voters and 249 polling stations.

A total of 89 electoral candidates representing 12 political parities will run for election in Mohnyin.