Advance Voting Legal Provisions Myanmar allows advance voting for people who are unable to vote in their constituencies on Election Day. Article 45 of the election laws establishes two types of advance voting: in-constituency advance voting for people who have to travel out of constituency on Election Day, people with disabilities, people who are seriously ill, elderly people, women who have recently given birth, detainees, inpatients, civil servants, military and police personnel on duty; and out-of-constituency advance voting for Myanmar citizens residing abroad and voters who are away from their constituencies, including students, detainees, inpatients, military personnel and their family members, and civil servants on duty. As the 2020 general elections were held amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the UEC made some extraordinary changes to advance voting to increase voters’ participation in the electoral process. On 10 October, it was announced that elderly voters aged 60 years and above would be able to vote at their homes from 29 October to 5 November if they resided either in a township under a stay-at-home order or in a township with high population density 4. In other areas, elderly voters could also cast advance votes at their respective ward or village tract election sub-commissions or request to vote from home if they were unable to go to the polling stations 5. In any case, voters over 60 could still decide to vote on Election Day, but the UEC took commendable steps to provide them with a presumably safer alternative and limit their exposure to the virus. Myanmar has an estimated 5.1 million people who are 60 years old and above, nearly 10 percent of the population 6. The UEC also arranged advance voting for voters in quarantine centres across the country. All quarantine centres were responsible for providing the lists of quarantined voters for in-constituency and out-of-constituency advance voting to their respective local election sub-commissions. The polling process was then carried out at the quarantine centres at the fixed date and time between 25 October and 7 November. Out-of-constituency advance voting was held throughout the country from 8 to 21 October. After local COVID-19 transmissions spiked, the UEC announced on 9 October the expansion of out-ofconstituency advance voting to include people who were unable to return to their home constituencies because of travel restrictions designed to stop the spread of COVID-19 7. These voters could request their inclusion in the process by submitting an advance voting application (Form 15) by 25 October to their local election sub-commission. It is noteworthy that such an arrangement is not prescribed in the election laws, but was a welcome initiative from the election management body to prevent the disenfranchisement of voters. 4 Defined as above 5,000 people per square kilometer. There are 29 such townships in Yangon region and five in Mandalay region. 5 https://www.gnlm.com.mm/announcement-for-advance-voting-rights-of-elderly-persons/ 6 https://www.irrawaddy.com/elections/election-2020-week-review-10.html 7 https://www.gnlm.com.mm/announcement-on-advance-voting-for-local-voters-outside-their-constituenciesin-2020-general-election/ 11