Featured Image: Voter education sign, The Asia Foundation
In light of Burma’s third national election on November 8, the US Campaign for Burma will be publishing a series of blogs covering the disenfranchisement of Burma’s ethnic groups in their respective states. This is the first blog in the election series and will cover Chin and Arakan states.
With elections arriving in a mere two months, Burma is still plagued with clashes between ethnic groups and the Burma Army as well as COVID-19 and the general lack of prioritization of the nation’s internally displaced peoples and refugees. In Chin state, officials have planned to move forward with polling despite COVID-19 concerns and severe conflict in Paletwa township- the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed organization, has been engaged in clashes incited by the Burma Army since tensions rose in 2018 and have since displaced over 6,000 people in Paletwa and Samee townships. Paletwa holds an estimated 3,000 ethnic Chin IDPs, many of whom will find voting a challenge given their harsh living conditions, limited mobility, and vulnerability to further violence.
In preparation for this year’s election, Chin state has added 12 more polling stations since the 2015 elections, making for a total of 171 polling stations ready for November. Despite these additions, voting will be a challenge for locals as fighting between the AA and Burma Army will leave thousands vulnerable to disenfranchisement and displacement. The Chin National League for Democracy has called upon the AA and Burma Army to halt any conflict in Paletwa township as the election date approaches, citing civilian safety and accessibility to voting as major concerns.
Additionally, Chin state has had issues with inaccurate voter lists, where, after nearly a third of voters checked the Chin state voter list, some 30,000 individuals applied for corrections. Nearly 16,000 people were listed under an incorrect name or identification number, making for a discrepancy that could leave thousands of locals unable to cast their votes. Over 12,460 names were of deceased individuals and 1,440 eligible voters were left off of the list completely. The Chin State Election Commission cites a total of 342,142 eligible voters in the entire state and plans to release a second draft of the voter list in mid-October.
Arakan state is also struggling with election issues- the Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim group, has suffered from genocide since August 2017 and remains largely displaced as refugees in Bangladesh. As Burma approaches the 2020 elections, Rohingya refugee groups have requested that government-facilitated voting take place at the refugee camps in Bangladesh- the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights has urged the Burmese government on behalf of the Rohingya to carry out voter registration and set up polling booths in coordination with Bangladesh officials. A similar issue is ongoing in Rohingya IDP camps in Arakan state, where individuals in the camps are also awaiting news on voting possibilities.
However, even if all Rohingya were in Burma and not suffering from forced displacement, the Rohingya have been denied citizenship since 1982– this means that the Rohingya are ineligible to vote under election law. Some have highlighted the possibility of officials granting Rohingyas in Bangladesh the right to vote if National Verification Cards are presented. However, these cards are discriminatory at their core and mark the Rohingya people as foreigners without full citizenship.
The Burma Army’s militarization of Arakan state has also posed a challenge to voting as civilians feel threatened by the constant presence of nearby troops. Kyauktaw township residents have stated that the Burma Army prevents locals from entering town to confirm their names on the voter list, something that can pose a threat to election security and cause the disenfranchisement of many if names are incorrect or left off of the list. Locals also relayed that many villagers are no longer living in their homes due to ongoing conflict and often live in fear as the Burma Army has previously arrested civilians who have now disappeared. Villagers in Rathedaung township expressed concern about the election being carried out in conflict-affected areas and urged the Union Election Commission to release a formal statement to determine if holding elections would be safe.
If elections in Arakan state are to be postponed in areas that are especially war-torn, as suggested by a senior election official, this could cause further distrust in Burma’s attempts at a democratic system and prevent ethnic parties from gaining seats in local administration. Many view the possibility of postponing elections as a move from the Burmese government to further deny representation and self-determination for ethnic groups. This is especially troubling considering that in 2015, polls were canceled under the pretenses of ethnic conflict and were never rescheduled to be carried out.
The constant violence and instability ongoing in Chin and Arakan states are representative of the Burmese government’s complicity in allowing the Burma Army to commit atrocities and pose a great threat to the security of civilians and the upcoming elections. The mass disenfranchisement that is gradually resulting from the nonexistent prioritization of ethnic groups will be particularly harmful to any democracy Burma hopes to develop and should serve as a call to action for the rest of the international community to hold the Burmese government and Burma Army accountable.
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