Myanmar’s first final, nationwide voter list was slated to go on public display yesterday, but after months of outraged political parties and voters calling election officials to task, most will have to wait at least another day to see the final roll. The Union Election Commission had initially planned on publicly posting the final list on November 2. The schedule was revised and extended to a last-minute, staggered release that would start at the local election office and progress to the township, state and Union level, where it would be combined and cross-checked. The relevant lists were also supposed to be posted at each polling station on November 6 and 7. Widespread voter list omissions, redundancies and inaccurate data plaguing the last two lists have proven a contentious and central obstacle in the coming election. While the final, corrected renditions were supposed to start rolling out yesterday, Myanmar Times reporters posted around the country found varying degrees to which local offices succeeded in meeting the deadline.
In Thanlyin township, the final voter lists were not ready for display. The commission officials said they lacked “sufficient resources” to post copies of the crucial spreadsheet, which will determine who is eligible to cast a ballot.
“We have only one photocopying machine in our township and there are about 180,000 eligible voters here,” said U Chit Nyunt, the chair of the township election sub-commission. He offered no plan or timeline for displaying the township lists. “We can’t do this with current resources,” he said.
Full Article: Voter list issues continue for at least another day.