A member of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has allegedly voted on behalf of his son—who then tried to vote again—in a polling station in eastern Shan State’s Mong Yang Township.
Sai Noom Htwe, a candidate from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), told SHAN that he captured video of the man in question describing and admitting to the act, and that he is also a staff member of a village tract polling station in Mong Yang Township.
“He cast the advanced vote for his son,” Sai Noom Htwe said. “However, today his son tried to cast the vote again. But he was stopped by the election commission.”
According to Sai Noom Htwe, the official cast the vote for his son because his son’s name was included in their family records, which are required for voter registration in Burma. But the son was allegedly away from home and his father was worried that he might not be able to vote, so he voted for him.
Sai Noom Htwe said he was concerned by the fact that the USDP member’s son was able to obtain a token to vote in person even though the advanced vote had already been cast.
SHAN reported yesterday that a candidate from the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) in Mong Yang Township was worried that leftover tokens in Mong Yang Township could be distributed extralegally, leading to people casting multiple votes.
According to the election law, if a voter has difficulty reading the ballot or “is unable to cast the ballot as directed,” then the voter’s parent, spouse, sibling or child—from the same registered household—can vote on their behalf, but as instructed by the voter themselves.
By SAI AW / Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N)
