While ANFREL did not witness egregious violations on Election Day, there were however accounts of ethnic voters unable to cast ballots for the elections of their ethnic affairs ministers as they were not issued ballot papers 1. In Rakhine state, a case of voter fraud was also reported 2. Such incidents should be investigated and appropriately addressed by election authorities. Compliance with COVID-19 Guidelines The 2020 general elections were also affected by the health precautions dictated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to ensure a safe voting process, the Ministry of Health and Sports (MOHS) had released COVID-19 standard operating procedures and guidelines to be followed. On Election Day, voters would encounter a polling staff conducting a body temperature check with a non-contact thermometer at the entrance of each polling station. If their temperature was higher than 38°C, voters would be asked to rest in a shady area for 15 minutes before being measured again. If the body temperature remained high in the second measurement, voters would be excluded from the regular voting process and arrangements would be made for them to cast their ballots in a separate room or isolated area. Election Day in Yangon. The temperature of voters were checked before entering the polling station. Regrettably, not all polling stations visited by ANFREL checked the voters’ temperature as required in the guidelines. Many of the staff in charge of manning the thermometers also did not know the next steps to take if a voter was found to have a fever. Some polling staff told ANFREL that voters who displayed a fever would not be allowed to vote in person but had to let the polling staff stamp the ballots on their behalf, which violates their right to a secret ballot. In one instance observed in Yangon’s Taikkyi township, a voter displaying a fever was given by the polling staff a cold water bottle 1 https://www.irrawaddy.com/elections/myanmars-minorities-claim-cannot-vote-ethnic-affairs-ministerialraces.html 2 https://www.dmgburmese.com/%E1%80%9E%E1%80%90%E1%80%84%E1%80%B9%E1%80%B8/td_ayx. html 8