According to the local residents, a trial census has begun in three wards and villages within Mawlamyine township, Mon State.
Starting on October 1, a trial census is being conducted simultaneously in the Pre-Market Ward, Aukkyin Ward, and in Hparauk Village within Mawlamyine Township.
“They were given advance notice before the census. To stay at home during the census. If they are not at home at the time of the census, they have to go to the General Manager’s office and need to talk. They check carefully that there is no one left out. They would like an accurate list,” said a resident of Mawlamyine pre-market ward.
The military junta made an announcement that they will conduct the trial census using the CAPI system with mobile tablets.
“This is a test census, and we initiated testing in Mawlamyine. The team includes education staff as well as rural health groups. Additionally, there are military junta soldiers providing security for the census teams, although they are not in military uniform,” explained a school teacher.
The military junta announced that as of October 1, 2023, Myanmar’s population was 56.2 million, based on the 2014 Population and Housing Census.
The military council announced that the trial census will be conducted from October 1st to October 15th at 100 census sampling points in 20 townships across the country.
The trial census is a preparation for the nationwide census scheduled to take place in the month of October 2024.
According to the military junta chairman, General Min Aung Hlaing, the voter list will be compiled based on the demographic data obtained from the trial census, and that the election will only be held after that.
