Election Day in Sagaing Region.
Polling Procedures
Voters were invited to cast their ballots on Election Day from 6 AM to 4 PM. Most polling stations
monitored by ANFREL opened on time; a few delayed by the late delivery of election paraphernalia
opened by 6:10 AM at the latest. Essential polling materials had mostly arrived on time and were
placed in their respective positions correctly. Procedures such as the presenting empty ballot boxes
and secure sealing of these boxes were found to be in accordance with the guidelines.
Most of the polling stations surveyed displayed the appropriate guidelines for voters and informational
posters outside. Some documents would occasionally be missing, such as instructions on safe voting
during COVID-19, the notice of dissolution of the Union Democratic Party (UDP), or Form 13, which
contains the names of voters from the polling station who cast their ballots in advance. ANFREL also
recorded two instances where the voter list was not being displayed outside at all. Moreover, even
when the voter list was posted, nearly half of the time it did not reflect the names of those who had
voted in advance. This is an important procedural safeguard that should not have been overlooked;
however, advance voters were always underlined in the copy of the voter list used by polling staff.
Another procedure that was perfunctorily implemented was the checking of voters’ fingers for indelible
ink when they entered the polling station to prevent repeat voting; however, polling staff were always
careful to apply ink once voters had finished casting their ballots.
The rest of polling procedures regarding the integrity and secrecy of the ballot-casting process were
found to be uniformly followed across polling stations on Election Day, displaying the proper training
received by polling staff, many of whom also had previous experience from at least the 2015 general
elections. ANFREL wishes to commend the nearly half a million polling staff that were mobilised to
successfully conduct polling operations.
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