Myanmar Rife with Voter Disenfranchisement ahead of National Elections

Ethnic Rohingyas of Rakhine state (pictured above) are among the many ethnic groups that have become politically disenfranchised ahead of the 2020 elections. (Wikimedia Commons)

Myanmar is set to have its general election on November 8—only its second since the end of military rule in 2011. While this seems to be an encouraging sign of a budding democracy, a closer examination will reveal that it is not necessarily the case. Voting has been cancelled in many of Myanmar’s predominantly-minority regions, deepening voter disenfranchisement in a state already rife with human rights issues. As tensions ferment between Myanmar’s ethnic minorities and its predominantly Burman majority, lasting peace in the country looks even further from reach. 

The majority of voting has been cancelled in Rakhine state, ground zero of armed violence between Myanmar’s armed forces and the Arakan Army, which has been fighting for the region’s independence since 2009. Of the Rakhine state’s 17 constituencies, voting in nine has been cancelled, with the Union Election Commission (UEC) claiming that, due to security concerns, it will be impossible to guarantee free and fair elections. 

However, this decision will lead to the disenfranchisement of 73 percent of Rakhine’s voters—roughly 1.2 million people. This is a major blow to the Arakan National Party, which hoped to strengthen its presence in key legislative bodies. “This will inevitably push [Rakhine Voters] to more radical approaches,” Min Zaw Oo, director of a Myanmar think tank, says, “making it harder for national reconciliation.” Notably, the inhabitants of Rakhine state are predominantly Rohingya, and they have been the target of genocide and various human rights abuses by the Myanmar army, spurring a widespread refugee crisis. 

Voting in many parts of Myanmar’s Shan, Kachin, Karen, and Wa states has also been cancelled. All these states are also battlegrounds between the central government and local insurgents. This will likely affect chances for the many ethnic parties—which have merged to create a united front—to win significantly in the central government. The ethnic political coalition hoped to capitalize on the growing anger and disillusionment with the incumbent National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which is perceived to side with the military over ethnic groups.

Such voting cancellations are only the latest in a string of measures taken by the central government and military, preventing a truly free and fair election. Last month, Human Rights Watch reported that Myanmar’s elections will be fundamentally flawed. As per the report, there has been widespread stifling of the media and opposition as of late: journalists have been classified as non-essential workers and are forced to stay at home, critics have been routinely persecuted, and access to media and the internet has been extremely unequal between regions. Specific electoral laws are also being employed by the government to deny many Rohingya from voting, citing a lack of citizenship despite Rohingya families living in Myanmar for generations. 

However, despite the apparent lack of democracy, “the suffering of these minority groups is not evidence of Myanmar ‘backsliding’ into dictatorship,” journalist Ben Dunant writes, “but of its evolution into an illiberal, majoritarian democracy, in which the government is increasingly responsive to majority demands.” In this system, the only protected minority group would be the military, for which the constitution reserves a quarter of all parliamentary seats. 

This tyranny of the majority is rife in Myanmar. As de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi transformed from human rights icon to international pariah, her support from the country’s Burman majority has only grown. “Even though there has been significant condemnation of her from the international community,” says Australia National University researcher Justine Chambers, “inside Myanmar she has actually gained support for her response to the Rohingya and her support for the military's strategy against them.”

In a country with the longest-running civil war, there seems to be no antidote in sight. Between a global refugee crisis, multiple insurgencies, and a military faction clinging to power, the upcoming elections may not be the answer to Myanmar’s woes.