11 | VOTER LISTS ARE PREPARED FROM THE JUNTA’S SURVEILLANCE TOOLS As in previous elections, the Union Election Commission is responsible for preparing voter lists, and does so by collating data from the population registries maintained by the General Administration Department (GAD) and the Ministry of Immigration and Population (MOIP). The UEC is also conducting door-to-door voter registration in townships where elections will be held. However, pro-democracy stakeholders have raised concerns about the accuracy and inclusiveness of said registries, as these have been used by the military to monitor the population, and suspect that the UEC’s voter lists will be used by the junta to further control election outcomes. Indeed, state agencies have been updating population registries as part of the junta’s forced conscription drive, and many youth have gone into hiding to avoid being drafted. The junta has also been collecting biometric data and issuing “smart cards” with a unique identification (UID) number, now required for leaving the country and accessing government services, further raising concerns of state surveillance. The junta conducted a partial census in late 2024, for which the stated goal was to update voter lists, although independent analysts have denounced it as an intelligence tool to identify resistance fighters and support conscription. The census was a failure, with only 145 townships covered fully and another 127 partially out of 330. An estimated 19 million people were not surveyed, out of a population of 51 million. There were credible reports that census data was incorrectly collected or even 49