Yangon election 'smooth, peaceful, orderly': observer

An election observer from the Asian Network for Free Elections says his initial impression of yesterday’s polls was of a peaceful, orderly vote.

DamasoMagbual, ANFREL’s head of mission, said last night that voting appeared to be in line with procedures laid out by the Union Election Commission (UEC).

During an interview in his office, other observers returned from their stations. MrMagbualemphasised that he was only giving a preliminary impression, mostly based on his own observations in Yangon.

He observed 14 polling stations yesterday and only saw one voter list dispute, when a family of six complained that their names were missing.

“However, they told me that they had not checked the lists beforehand, so it was their own fault,” he said.

He also witnessed one voter who had already submitted an advance vote, try to submit another. According to MrMagbual, it was quickly determined that he was lying.

“The elections exceeded my expectations, especially regarding the way problems with the voter lists were resolved,” he said.

A couple of issues arose with what MrMagbual called a “lack of voter awareness”. Some voters did not realise at first that they would have to fill out three ballot papers instead of one.

“But this is only a minor issue,” he said. On the other hand, party agents were working professionally.

MrMagbual observed differences in vote counting methods from station to station. Some officials counted advance votes first and then went on to count votes for seats in the lower and upper houses.

Others counted the advance votes together with those cast yesterday. “This shows some of the staff training at polling stations was inadequate.”

Before the elections he noted a flaw in advance voting ballot boxes in Yankin township station No 2. They were not sealed and therefore susceptible to ballot stuffing, he said.

However, of all the polling stations MrMagbual observed yesterday, the largest number of advance votes was 59, suggesting that no such fixing had taken place.

More worrying is the fact that ANFREL and other observers were not allowed to watch the out-of-constituency advance voting at military stations.

Myanmar has around 400,000 soldiers, meaning that a significant number of votes will be left unchecked. “The UEC has allowed a great deal of transparency but the military remained sacrosanct,” said MrMagbual.

ANFREL, the Carter Center and the European Union observation mission will hold a meeting today, and all three organisations will present their initial findings on November 10.

ANFREL was the only one to answer questions on election day.

The work of observers does not stop once the results are out, said MrMagbual in an earlier conversation on November 6.

“Asian politicians are sore losers,” he said. “They only consider the elections free and fair when they win.”

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