basic democratic principles. Instead, it deeply entrenches a power-sharing arrangement between the Tatmadaw and the civilian government. While most political parties have decided to contest elections despite the asymmetrical framework since at least 2012, there remain some civil society groups such as the All Burma Federation of Student Unions and the All Burma Federation of Trade Unions which continue to boycott all electoral processes held under the current legal framework, which they argue only serve to perpetuate the power of the military 89. Recent Changes to the Electoral System Beyond the Constitution, the legal framework for the 2020 general elections was almost identical to the previous electoral cycle, with only a few revisions to the by-laws. The first has to do with residency requirements for migrant workers or students within Myanmar. Voters who resided elsewhere than their constituency for at least 90 days could request their temporary inclusion on the local voter list, down from 180 days previously. While this provision may have enabled large numbers of migrant workers to vote in a more convenient manner, it did not go unopposed by ethnic political parties, who said it would benefit most the political forces of the Bamar majority 90. Election observers have been divided about the move: Daw Zin Mar Oo, Executive Director of the Myanmar Network Organization for Free and Fair Elections (MYNFREL), welcomed any attempt to increase voter turnout: “We must think of how to get more people to vote. It is more convenient if local migrants have the right to vote in their current townships 91”. On the other hand, U Sai Ye Kyaw Swar Myint, Executive Director of the People’s Alliance for Credible Elections (PACE) declared that “a better system should be introduced. [...] Our suggestion is to repeal the 180-day residency requirement and allow advance voting. There is no problem with allowing people to cast their votes in a new place, on the condition that they move to the new places with their entire families. But individuals who will only stay temporarily in a place should not be allowed to cast their votes in local elections 92.” With official estimates of 9.2 million internal migrants 93, any reform to voting mechanisms for migrant workers and students can greatly impact election outcomes. However, election stakeholders should strive to find a consensus on a way to increase voter turnout without affecting the perception of the integrity of the process. The other significant change to election by-laws regards polling stations for the military. Starting with the 2020 general elections, members of the armed forces and their families no longer vote on military premises on Election Day 94. Instead, the estimated one million military-affiliated voters cast ballots alongside civilians in 635 “combined” polling stations. Some military locations were however too remote from civilian populations, so 127 polling stations still needed to be set up specifically for military voters, but outside of their compounds. ANFREL welcomes this reform which aligns Myanmar with international standards on military voting and significantly reinforces the transparency of Election Day polling operations. However, a significant portion of Tatmadaw personnel still votes through out-of-constituency advance voting, which still 89 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrpMHPCM1Go https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/ethnic-parties-myanmar-worried-proposed-voter-registrationchanges-will-hurt-election-chances.html 91 https://www.mmtimes.com/news/ethnic-parties-blast-poll-laws-change.html 92 https://www.irrawaddy.com/dateline/will-millions-myanmar-migrant-workers-vote-2020-election.html 93 http://www.dop.gov.mm/sites/dop.gov.mm/files/datamapdocuments/excel_data_on_migration_and_urbanization.xlsx 94 https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-election-commission-seeks-abolish-military-pollingstations-2020-election.html 90 33