The voter turnout rate in Kachin State in the recent election hit 66 per cent, down two percent compared with the 2015 General Elections, said U Tun Aung Khaing, officer of the Kachin State Election Sub-Commission.

The voter turnout rate in 2020 declined compared to that in 2015. Kachin State had over 800,000 eligible voters in Kachin State in 2015. The voter turnout rate was between 68 and 69 percent,” he added.

In the 2020 elections, 760,366 (advance votes by 163,856 and 566,510 voters who cast votes at polling stations) out of 1,150,407 eligible voters cast their votes. The voter turnout rate was just 66.10 percent, according to the statement by the Union Election Commission on December 1.

However, these figures do not take into account the voters who were disenfranchised by the UEC that declared 11 townships in Kachin “unsafe to hold an election.” U Tun Aung Khaing, officer of the Kachin State Election Sub-Commission did not make any comment on this in spite of several complaints from ethnic-based parties

Far less significant were the figures of 23,520 invalid votes and 229 missing votes in Kachin State.

Kachin State stood 10th on the list of nationwide voter turnouts in the 2020 General Elections held on December 8.

There are around 360,000 eligible voters in Myitkyina District, 250,000 in Bahamo District, around 240,000 in Monhnyin District and over 60,000 in Putao District.

According to the first round of voter lists, there were more than one million voters in Kachin State. The number of eligible voters reached 1,150,407 on the second round of voter lists released by the Union Election Commission (UEC).