Junta-affiliated officials have begun inspecting village tracts controlled by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), also known as the Kokang Army, in Lashio Township, northern Shan State, to identify locations for polling stations ahead of the military-staged vote, according to local residents.

Residents said that on the morning of December 14, election-related departmental staff operating under the military regime, accompanied by security personnel from both the junta and the MNDAA, visited villages along the Lashio–Mong Yai main road—an area currently under Kokang Army control.

“The election commission officials from Lashio, with security from both the military and Kokang troops, inspected schools to be used as polling stations. Yesterday they visited Nam Pawng and Nama Bawta again. The Kokang side did not object and even provided security,” a local man from Lashio Township told SHAN. He added that polling stations are likely to be set up only in schools located along the main road.

Residents also reported that on December 4, troops under the military regime and sub-commission election officials from Lashio Town visited the Nam Pawng Village fire station, also under MNDAA control, to collect voter lists.

Lashio Township has been included by the military regime in the first phase of its planned voting process, scheduled to begin on December 28. However, the military currently controls only 12 urban wards in Lashio Town, while the MNDAA controls most village tracts outside the town.

On December 5, the junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC), which operates under military authority, released a list of areas where voting would not be conducted, including 64 village tracts in Lashio Township. Residents noted, however, that the list excluded several MNDAA-controlled village tracts along the Lashio–Hsipaw–Mong Yai road, including Mae Han, Khay Ning, Nawng Mon, Pyain Htun, Sint In, Nam Pawng, Man Pyin, and Nama Bawta.

According to residents, political campaigning and voter education activities—particularly instruction on the use of electronic voting machines—have already taken place in these areas, despite the absence of broader public consultation or consent.

Similar activities have also been reported in Mong Yai Township, which the military regime has designated as part of the second phase of its planned vote. Although eight village tracts in Mong Yai Township have been declared ineligible to host voting, residents said that on December 12, sub-commission election staff conducted voter education sessions in Wan Lon Village, Ho Ya Village Tract, an area also under MNDAA control.

“The Mong Yai UEC came to the Wan Lon hall to teach people how to vote. They only invited residents from villages near the main road, like Wan Lon and Pan Nyaung. Villages further inside were not included,” a local man from Mong Yai Township told SHAN. He added that attendance was low, as many villagers were busy harvesting sugarcane.

The junta-appointed UEC has announced that the National Unity Party (NUP), Shan and Ethnic Democratic Party (SNDP), Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), People’s Pioneer Party (PPP), and Kokang Democracy and Unity Party (KDUP) have been permitted to field candidates in the Lashio Township constituency.