Township election commission in Northern Shan State’s Hsenwi township is said to be forcing villagers to cast votes for the junta-backed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in its advance voting exercise, according to local sources.

“We were instructed by our ward headman to vote for USDP. We could not do anything else because it was not us that marked the ballot paper,” a voter who was present there said.

“A member of a government department did it on our behalf. We just had to take the marked ballots and put into the ballot boxes,” he added.

The township election commission on 30 October conducted advance voting for people in Quarter No. 1, 3 and 4, from 9:00 to 13:00 at the primary school in Wiangnang village in Quarter No.4. The total number of advance voters was around 120.

Hsenwi Township is a constituency where Sai Ai Pao, Chairman of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) is contesting.  There are three parties competing in the constituency, SNDP, USDP and National Unity Party (NUP).

“I heard a complaint was lodged with the Election Commission about this irregular advance voting. However, there was no reply from the EC,” an elderly person in the town said.

Vote buying and intimidation of voters by USDP are also widely reported across the country.

Khonumthong News Agency which covers Chin State reported on 1 November that government employees in Rihkhawdar new town, Falam township, assigned to take charge of polling stations in the town’s outskirts, were asked to exercise their franchise in advance before they travel to their assigned destination.

As all were asked to give oral answers as to which party they wanted to vote for to the concerned authorities to note down, the employees were unable to say anything but that they wanted to vote for the USDP, the report said.

A voter has to give his/ her name, father’s name and his/her identity card number.