Karen

A citizen in Karen State who spoke with Burma Election Tracker described the lack of voter education.

"I knew that I had to vote on the November 7, but I actually did not have good understanding on it. No one explained about the election. I did not cast advance, and I did not vote on the election day also. I have been hearing announcements but don't understand."

A citizen from Karen State spoke to Burma Election Tracker in an interview and stated: "There are many Mon and Karen ethnic residents in where I live, so I wanted to vote for those ethnic parties, but I could not vote freely for them. There were USDP members and WPDC authorities came to my house telling us and threatening us to vote for USDP. Many had to cast advance votes finally. Civilians are very angry with the military government and they reported abuses to corresponding opposition parties and parties said they would address the issues."

A citizen from Karen State who spoke to Burma Election Tracker described how SPDC officials abused their authority to force advance votes for USDP.

"I did not vote myself. Following orders of senior chiefs, commanders serving in military battalions had to cast advance votes for USDP. Ward Peace and Development Council cast advance votes for family members for USDP."

A citizen in Karen State who spoke with Burma Election Tracker described authorities' strategy for securing USDP votes through abuse of power, misinformation, and forced voting.

A resident from Karen State who spoke to Burma Election Tracker said: "I heard about the elections. I also heard that people were supposed to vote for the USDP. I went home. I couldn't vote because my name was not on the household member list. My family members voted. I don't know which party they voted for. We were provided with voting cards and voting was mandatory. There were no threats and no persuasion door to door. Not many people voted. Some people voted because they were provided voting cards. In the late afternoon of the election day, the situation went bad.