Observers and election experts report that more than half of the village-level voter lists announced by township administration offices in Mon State contain incorrect information.
In Paung Township, numerous errors were found, including the omission of people aged 50 and older from the voter list and the inclusion of names of deceased individuals. A resident of Paung said that there were “hundreds of mistakes.”
“They said they will correct it in the second round, but if errors remain, it will lead to an unfair election. In some villages, there are 400 to 600 mistakes. People over 55 are not listed, while some deceased individuals’ names are still included—some of whom passed away just three or four months before the announcement,” the resident said.
Party representatives and responsible officials are urging people to report such errors and are assisting with corrections through Form 3 and Form 15 submissions.
It is reported that the current voter list discrepancies are even greater than those in the 2020 election, with names of people who died five years ago still appearing. Some names associated with national registration cards that were already canceled by the immigration office have also reappeared.
Although these inaccuracies can be corrected, local residents said few people are coming to check the lists, resulting in very few corrections.
“In every 100 names, about 45 are wrong. Even the names of those who died five years ago are still there. So, township administrators are blaming the election sub-commission. Officials said they can’t do much unless corrections are formally filed, but some political parties are helping villagers check and fix the lists for campaign purposes. Without that, no one would come,” said a resident of Kyaikmayaw Township.
Due to pressure from higher authorities, only government staff and administrative officers are checking the lists, while a few ordinary citizens are doing so, according to a resident of Tarana Village.
The Union Election Commission (UEC) stated that the announcement period for the eligible voters list had been extended from September 30th to October 20th. Once corrections, additions, and deletions are complete, a revised list will be published in the second week of November.
In past elections, more than 22 million of the 29 million eligible voters cast ballots in the 2010 general election. The number of eligible voters rose to over 43 million in 2015 and over 37 million in 2020.
However, the military junta has not yet disclosed the number of eligible voters for the upcoming 2025 general election.
