Maungdaw: Many residents in the border townships of Buthidaung and Maungdaw in western Burma's Arakan State gathered from 6 am on Sunday at their designated polling booths to cast their votes in the first nationwide election in two decades.

But time limitations and illiteracy have posed major barriers for most of the Muslim voters in the two townships, said some members of the National Democratic Party for Development (NDPD), who observed polling in the region.

"Most of the people in the area, especially Muslims, do not understand how to vote because they are unable to read the Burmese language, and have been asking what to do with their ballots. But no one has the right here to explain or talk to them, and they are allowed just three minutes at the polling booth to cast their votes. We are afraid that most of the votes will be discarded as disqualified votes," said Nur Amin, a member of the NDPD who was observing a number of polling stations in Maungdaw Township.

Nur Amin asked Narinjara to use this pseudonym instead of his real name in this story, as he does not have the authority to speak to the media on behalf of the party. Like Nur Amin, no one in this story dared to share their real names, as they are afraid they would be punished by the Burmese military regime for sharing their experiences.

The NDPD is the main opponent of the regime-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in Buthidaung and Maungdaw Townships.

Most of the Muslims in Buthidaung Township are facing the same problems, said another member of the NDPD from the township.

Narinjara called U Toyub Uddin, a senior member and a candidate of the NDPD contesting for the Nationalities Parliament in Maungdaw, and the USDP offices in Maungdaw and Buthidaung, but both sources refused to comment on the issues.

However, Nur Amin told Narinjara that the problems were a result of the lack of practical education of the general public by the local election commissions, and was not the fault of any particular political party.

"Most of the people in the area do not understand how to cast their ballots due to the lack of practical education of the general public on how to vote in the election. This is the responsibility of the local election commissions and the political parties have nothing to do with this issue other than complaining to the commissions," he said.

About 90 per cent of the Muslim population living in those two townships cannot read or write the Burmese language, according to a local UNICEF official, who wished to remain unnamed.

Apart from these difficulties, there are many people who do not know where they have go to vote and even members of the same household are being assigned to separate and distant polling stations, said a woman from Aungbala Village in rural Maungdaw.

"I found so many villagers who do not know where to cast their votes. I think that this happened to the people because voters from the same families are not being assigned to the same place to vote," said the woman.

She added, "I have five members in my family who are eligible to vote in the election. But my mother's name cannot be found on the voters list of any polling station in my village or nearby villages. I along with my younger brother and sister are listed to vote in my own village's station, but my eldest daughter is listed in Zartiprun Village's polling station, which is nearly a mile away from my home. Almost every family in our village and nearby villages is experiencing the same problems in voting in this election."

According to other local sources, the local authorities and USDP collected early-vote ballots supporting the USDP from 4 to 6 November from government personnel, officials, and party members, while ordinary citizens are facing a number of difficulties while casting their votes on election day.

Most of the people, including Nur Amin, believe that the USDP will emerge as the major vote winner in an election that the opposition and international critics have called a sham designed to prolong the regime's hold on power in Burma.