Voter Education & Election Observation Voter Education by the Union Election Commission (UEC) The legal framework governing elections is silent on civic and voter education. The Constitution of Myanmar, along with the election laws, cover the voter registration aspects but do not explicitly mandate the UEC to conduct voter education. Although the UEC’s Strategic Plan 2019-2022 107 (Strategic Pillar 5) warranted the UEC to expand its civic and voter education scope, the efforts were hampered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic confined the UEC to conduct its civic and voter education plans through the mass media, including television and radio, as well as billboard advertisements, SMS and social media. The UEC actively disseminated information for voters on its Facebook page with infographics and videos elaborating on the voting procedures and COVID-19 related guidelines. It also provided information for voters, such as how they can check their names on the voter list and its press statements and ongoing activities. The Facebook page, which was inactive for over two years before it was revived, has garnered over 970,000 followers as of November 2020 108. The UEC also produced multiple songs in Myanmar language to encourage voters to participate in the electoral process. Music videos showing people from various regions in local ethnic outfits were aired on Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) as well as uploaded on the UEC's Facebook page. The UEC collaborated with International IDEA to produce a romantic edutainment film for voter education and awareness purposes, which was also aired on MRTV and Facebook. Aside from the state’s media outlets, private news channels also aired dedicated programs for the elections. To help voters make informed decisions, the UEC, with the support of the Asia Foundation, International IDEA, and the EU-funded STEP Democracy project, launched a mobile application named mVoter 2020 to provide information on candidates and electoral procedures 109. The app, which also came as a web form, contained the profiles of contesting candidates, political parties, voting procedures, and frequently asked questions related to election matters; According to the International IDEA, the application contains official data that the UEC collects and controls 110. However, it faced intense criticism immediately after launch for inflaming ethnic and religious nationalism. Candidate information fields indeed included “race”, “religion” and “parents’ race” 111. The app was also criticised for labelling at least two Rohingya candidates as “Bengali”, a discriminatory term that implies they are immigrants from Bangladesh and is rejected by the Rohingya community. International IDEA then withdrew their association with the application. 112 Despite the efforts conducted by the UEC through the media, ANFREL interviews with stakeholders found that levels of voter education remain low, especially among the voters in rural areas. Impactful messages largely failed to reach rural communities due to the lack of Internet access, and little voter 107 https://merin.org.mm/sites/merin.org.mm/files/publication/07032019_uec_national_strategic_plan_2019_2022 _english_version.pdf 108 https://www.facebook.com/uecmyanmar 109 https://www.idea.int/news-media/news/statement-mvoter2020-myanmar 110 https://www.idea.int/news-media/news/statement-mvoter2020-myanmar 111 https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-technology-religion-smartphones-myanmarfa116850fa0c396508fc3bce475f4a6e 112 https://www.idea.int/news-media/news/statement-mvoter2020-myanmar 40