Wera Marn : Since registering in April 2010, many residents from Ye township in southern Mon state have not yet received their identification cards. These identification cards are necessary for voting in the upcoming November 7th elections.
Both residing in Ye township, a 25 year old woman and 38 year old woman, explain, “I can’t vote for the election because I still haven’t received my ID.” The 25 year old registered three months ago, while the 38 year old registered a year ago. Both have not received their IDs from their ward headman. The election date is getting close, but the ward headmen have not distributed the ID cards for those who registered with the Department of Immigration and National Registration in Ye township.
On the other hand, Khaw zar sub-township in southern Ye Township disbursed the identification cards (IDs) on the third of October. “In order to make the voter registration card, we have to go to the immigration department office. The process lasts two days. On the first day, they ask our family history, and we have to pay 3000 kyat. The next day we have to pay 10,000 kyat to complete the process,” said a Khaw zar resident.
One staff member from the Department of Immigration and National Registration at Ye said, “I am also not sure why the department has not distributed the Ids.”
Ward, or quarter, headmen, have already collected family histories to start the identification process in July 2010. These family histories have not been redistributed to the residents, reported a 50-year old woman from Ye. Family lists, which change with the death of a family member, or a marriage within the family, are another form of identification necessary to have.
To receive identification quickly, villagers have been forced to pay large sums of money. During the voting campaign in July 2010, members of the Department of Immigration and National Registration visited townships to register the residents. If one was not in the township during that time, it becomes up to that individual to register on their own. Registering on one’s own has shown to be far more expensive.
During the campaign, “the cost was very cheap [to register]. During the operation, we had to pay 20,000 kyat to make new ids. But, now, we have to pay 50,000 kyat. If we want to receive the id very soon, we have to pay 70,000 kyat, explained one Ye resident.
The Department of Immigration and National Registration in Paung Township gave IDs to the Ward, or Quarter Headman, to give the residents, according to the New Light of Myanmar, a newspaper supported by the Burmese government.
