one of them.” 119 Myo Min Htun ran under the People’s Pioneer Party which prioritises young people and tackles gender discrimination. Disability-inclusion in Electoral Process In 2015, the Hluttaw adopted the Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which protects and promotes the rights of persons with disabilities across various aspects of public life, including the right to participate in the election process. According to the UEC announced over MRTV Radio in August 2020, there are about 80,000 PWD voters. 120 The Myanmar Independent Living Initiative (MILI) organised civic education initiatives for PWDs, IDPs, and the marginalised sectors. They provided technical and financial support to polling stations to implement accessible polling places. Accessibility mechanisms included preparation of ramps and provision of braille and sign language interpretation. It is unclear, however, if an accessibility audit of polling stations was conducted by the UEC in preparation for the elections. While there was CSO assistance to polling stations to implement accessible polling places, its implementation by the UEC was uneven. ANFREL observed advance voting by the elderly and PWDs noted that most of the polling stations were not accessible to those who are wheelchair-users. Assistance to PWD voters in polling stations was ad hoc and implemented on a case-by-case basis. IDPs’ Electoral Participation Hampered by Conflict and COVID-19 Internally displaced peoples (IDPs) seem to be the most affected due to the COVID-19 related imposed lockdowns. While the UEC had allowed IDPs stranded along the borders to vote, most of them were unable to check the first and second voter list displays. In Kachin State, there are about 136 IDP camps 121 due to the conflict between the KIO and the Tatmadaw. Around 20,000 of these IDPs are eligible to vote. According to a key informant interviewed by ANFREL, the IDPs received scant information on the voting process. The IDPs live in crowded places and have less access to necessities such as water and soap, sanitiser, and masks. Prior to the elections, the IDPs were worried about the crowd on election day because of COVID-19. They feared that infection could spread easily around the camps. This was also one of the prime reasons that political parties and CSOs were unable to access the IDP. Almost all CSOs did not have a chance to conduct voter education because they have not been allowed to. Nevertheless, organisations like BadeiDha Moe tried to reach the IDPs by providing voter education online. Participation of Youth in Election Activities To emphasise the important role of youth voters, IFES organised the 2020 Youth Innovation Summit, where seven teams of young leaders collaborated on new approaches to engage, motivate and educate these first-time voters ahead of the elections. 122 Political parties have recognised the youth’s important role in promoting inclusion in elections. For instance, the SNLD has been utilising its youth members to conduct house-to-house and sticker campaigns in Lashio. Similarly, a key informant from a political party representing both minorities and the youth thinks that young people have an important role to play in politics and hopes that they would be more involved in the peace process as well after the elections. In conflict-affected areas, youth participation is limited. According to a Rakhine respondent, “the youth are afraid and they don’t dare to speak up for the party they stand for. They learned this fear from their parents as they themselves are afraid. As ‘political’ youth often ended up in jail in the past, if a 119 https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/myanmars-first-openly-gay-mp-candidate-vows-to-stand-up-to-police-abuseof-lgbt-people 120 https://soundcloud.com/myanmar_radio/taawpisis25n 121 https://reliefweb.int/map/myanmar/myanmar-idp-sites-kachin-state-31-august-2020 122 https://www.ifes.org/news/myanmar-youth-innovate-engage-first-time-voters 45