Burma’s Election: Credibility at Stake

In many past elections, there have been allegations of multiple registration of the same voter in different constituencies and the manipulation of ballot tabulations.

For the list of eligible voters in Burma, the EC relies on the junta’s administrative mechanism even though the electoral law grants it that responsibility.

Article 12 (A and B) of Chapter 6 titled “Collection of Eligible Voters” in the existing Pyithu Hluttaw Electoral Law issued on May 31, reads: “The Commission will collect the list of eligible voters to elect Hluttaw representatives.”

Burma has not conducted a systemic population census nationwide since 1983 and the country has no capacity to introduce a computerized voter list to prevent multiple registrations.

A number of factors can lead to manipulating a voter list, if the process is not transparent. There has been a dramatic increase in population movement in the past 20 years. Burma is now a country with millions of emigrants, including more than 150,000 refugees in Thailand and neighboring countries.

In addition, there are perhaps a half million internally displaced persons, stateless persons, and a significant number of Royhingja in the western areas of the country without permanent homes.

Article 13 (B) of the law reads: “The Ward or Village Election Commissions must include in the voter list the armed forces personnel, Burmese diplomats and their families living outside the country, the scholars and their families studying [in foreign universities] and those who the government officially allowed to go abroad.”

Most Burmese emigrants outside the country usually maintain their name on their family registration papers and the majority are eligible voters. Therefore, there are likely to be millions of blank ballots in polling stations on the day of the election set aside for those eligible voters, but who in many cases will not be able to return and cast their votes. These ballots are vulnerable to misuse by officials.

Another issue is that election commissions around the world usually print from 2 to 5 percent more ballots than are actually needed, in order to cover emergency situations. The EC must be transparent in this area to maintain public credibility.

If the past is guide, the 2008 referendum on the current Constitution should serve as a warming to those who will monitor the election. The referendum convening commission announced that 92 percent of the 98 percent of eligible voters cast a “YES” vote, leading to widespread disbelief based on the public protests of irregularities during the referendum voting.

If the junta fails to conduct a transparent and fair election in these three key areas, the upcoming election will lack credibility in the eyes of the people and the international community.