Myanmar’s military regime will conduct a population census starting January 9 of next year in townships across Arakan State in order to facilitate the compiling of voter lists, according to the Arakan State Administration Council (ASAC).

A total of 6,940 enumerators will be involved in conducting the census, and training is being given to them, ASAC spokesman U Hla Thein wrote on his Facebook on Tuesday.

“The census will contribute to designing plans for the development of Arakan State. And it is also part of efforts to hold the election in August 2023,” he wrote.

A total of 109 enumerators from all 17 Arakan State townships and Chin State’s Paletwa Township who will supervise the working groups on the ground are currently attending the relevant training in Sittwe.

DMG was unable to obtain comment from U Hla Thein about ASAC’s plans to conduct an Arakan State census.

The secretary of the junta-appointed Arakan State election commission, U Thurein Htut, said the commission is checking whether the population on the ground matches the existing voter lists.

“Eligible voters must not be mentally ill or prisoners. So, we are checking against the eligibility criteria,” he said.

A Sittwe resident said she has neither trust nor interest in the junta-organised election slated for next year. “We don’t think it will be fair. We don’t want to cast a vote. We don’t have trust in it,” she said.

Except the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), no political party in Arakan State is outwardly preparing for the election.

On February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military seized power from the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government in a coup, citing voter fraud in a 2020 general election that the NLD won in a landslide. Independent observers, however, have rejected claims of widespread voter fraud.

The military regime has since cancelled the results of the 2020 election, and has said a new election will be held next year.