admitted that discrimination against women candidates still exists, citing voter preference for male politicians. Women politicians cannot go out at night to respond to emergencies or community concerns, and are criticised for attending to political tasks rather than to their duties as wives or mothers. The civil society organizations advocating for women’s empowerment in Bago noted the lack of institutional support for initiatives to empower women and attain gender equality. Further, Rakhine respondents mentioned that most informed voters are welcoming female candidates compared to less informed communities. In addition to that safety is another major challenge for female candidates. Hence potential physical and verbal attacks spurred by disinformation over social media platforms such as Facebook is real. Ethnicity is also affecting marginalising their political activities, especially its affect for more marginalised ethnic communities. A Muslim woman campaign manager of a political party interviewed by ANFREL shared that its crucial for Muslim women to be active in politics to confirm and however Islam does not restrict women from participating in public life. The discrimination against women candidates do not come from men alone, though. A woman voter interviewed by ANFREL shared that women do not make good politicians as they are “soft-minded.” Likewise a Muslim woman candidate from Mandalay region shared that she is facing discrimination from even among their party supporters. Ethnic Minorities’ Participation Ethnic minorities’ participation in the 2020 general elections faced an uphill climb compared to mainstream ethnic communities, which was shared by the key informants. In Bago, some of the Muslim and Hindu voters who received temporary National Registration Cards (NRC) faced challenges in the registration process. A Muslim candidate from Southen Rakhine state interviewed by an ANFREL observer noted that when he submitted his application as a candidate in 2020 to the concerned government agency, the process for validating his ID and those of his parents to verify citizenship status took longer than most of the non-minority candidates. In Mon State, Muslim voters interviewed by ANFREL observers mentioned that “religion and ethnicity stand in the way of eligible candidates,” adding that underrepresented minorities were also subjected to online attacks and bullying. In Rakhine, a member of a political party noted that Rohingya candidates were discriminated upon and were disqualified because of their ethnicity and alleged lack of citizenship status that were traced back to the status of their parents. He opined that the cancellation of the polls in nine Rakhine townships was an act of discrimination against the ethnic communities. In Ayeyarwady, candidates interviewed by ANFREL mentioned that Karen ethnic peoples are still marginalised even though they expect NLD to enhance their rights. However they did not see any progress has been made so far and they feel like they are “voiceless” in Myanmar. They have recorded cases of Karen people who have accomplished Form 15A but were still not included in the voter lists. KPP is unhappy about the election cancellations in their state despite the lack of violence or security issues. Participation of LGBTQs Myo Min Htun, Myanmar’s first openly gay candidate, ran for a regional hluttaw seat in Aungmyaythazan township in Mandalay, where trans women and other LGBT people have long complained of wrongful arrests, beatings and abuse at the hands of police. He said that only “LGBT people know about the lack of LGBT rights, the problems with the police, and how police brutality have unlawfully arrested those from the LGBT community. I understand LGBT people because I’m 44