Myanmar voter lists are riddled with mistakes

MYANMAR’S Union Election Commission (UEC) has come under fierce criticism due to an enormous number of errors in voter lists, casting doubts among voters and political parties over whether the upcoming election will be free and fair as promised.

UEC chief Tin Aye said he guaranteed the accuracy for the 30 per cent of voters who checked their names but he could not comment on the majority who did not.

Aye Thar Aung, central executive committee member of the Arakan National Party, said: “The errors are the UEC’s responsibility. Members of the UEC should have no relation with any parties or organisations. They have to be respected by the people.” 

Tin Aye is a retired general. 

Several voters complained that their names were not on the list. This included film director Ye Zaw, who did not see his name on the first list. He notified the authorities but his name is still missing from the amended list. 

“The UEC is careless. It should be more careful as it is a union-level organisation,” he said.

Tin Oo, a patron of the National League for Democracy, is concerned that the errors may lead to a large number of rejected votes and this may put the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party at an advantage. 

“There are many errors even after the lists were supposedly corrected. Dealing with the lists is keeping us busy,” he said.

Ko Ko, chairman of Yangon Region election commission, said that voters can vote if there are small errors on their names. 

“They can vote if their names are spelled wrongly or their dates of birth or some numbers in their national registration card are wrong. In the election by-law, it stated that the sub-election commission officers could correct errors on the spot if they are not important. They know each other in the wards. It is allowed to correct those kinds of mistakes.”

The voter lists will be displayed until tomorrow. Yet, a large number of voters living far from rural election offices have not yet checked their names. Flooding which has ruined roads and disrupted traffic is another reason. 

It was reported last week that the UEC has spent US$1.5 million on a specific type of paper to be used for ballots that is meant to prevent forgery. 

It was also reported that 12 constituencies in Shan State have no candidates standing. The Shan State Army on September 16 asked all political parties to temporarily stop conducting election campaigns in Shan State as government troops were in conflict with the rebel group. 

Sai Leik, joint secretary of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, said: “The SSA needs to work with the government so that the election can be held successfully. Political parties campaigning in SSA-controlled areas could face trouble. It should put pressure on the government and Tatmadaw [armed forces] to end the trouble.”

There are growing concerns that the ruling party may use tricks to win the election. Several states reported a high number of eligible voters who are either serving the military, police forces or family members. 

According to the UEC, there are approximately 150,000 of such people in Shan State. The number for Kachin State is about 30,000 and about 6,000 in Kayah State, about 12,000 in Kayin State, about 6,000 in Chin State and about 6,000 in Rakhine State.

There is also about 30,000 in the Sagaing region and about 40,000 in the Magway region. There are no figures for the remaining regions. 

As her party is busy amending the voter-list errors, NLD chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi moved forward with her campaign and took a tough stance against the military.

While campaigning in Kayah State, she blamed Myanmar’s poverty on decades of military misrule and she directly linked the current government to the former military dictatorship that ruled the country for more than 50 years.