A 15-year-old boy was permitted to cast a ballot at a polling station in northern Shan State’s Kutkai Township on Sunday on behalf of his brother, who he said was out of town and could not participate in Burma’s general election.  

The act reportedly took place in Polling Station 2 in Kutkai town’s seventh ward.

“He cast a ballot into the ballot box for the House of Representatives. He came to cast a ballot for his brother. He is just 15 years old. His brother is working in China,” Sai Pyi Phyo Kyaw, an electoral candidate for the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) in Kutkai, told SHAN.

Sai Pyi Phyo Kyaw said it was unclear why the boy was allowed to vote and speculated that he must have had the backing of an outside organization or institution.

“If not, he would not dare to come and cast a ballot at the polling station. We will investigate it. We have already reported it to the respective election commission,” the SNLD parliamentary candidate said on Sunday.

SHAN called J La Sam, chairperson of the Kutkai Township Election Commission, for comment. J La Sam confirmed that the incident had occurred but did not speak on it further.

SHAN also contacted the secretary of the commission, Tawng Ja Hkawng, but she had not responded to requests for an interview at the time of reporting.