YANGON — Myanmar’s embassies in South Korea and Malaysia have extended polling for advance ballots for the Nov. 8 general election.
Citizens from Myanmar in South Korea began advance voting on Oct. 2 and those in Malaysia began voting on Oct. 9. The original deadline in both countries was Monday.
Myanmar’s embassy in Seoul said it would open its polling station for an extra day on Oct. 18 from 9am to 6pm to allow voters an extra chance to take part in the election.
It said various voters had missed the deadline because they had to travel long distances, faced work commitments or had not heard about the voting arrangements.
According to the embassy, 7,806 citizens – or 79.2 percent of registered voters – cast their ballots within the 11-day window.
The embassy in Kuala Lumpur will allow voting until Oct. 16 between 9:30am and 4:30pm.
By Sunday it said 3,468 advance ballots had been cast.
In Myanmar, campaigning is stepping up with parties making their election pledges. In townships where stay-at-home orders are imposed due to rising COVID-19 cases, gatherings are restricted and campaigning is largely limited to online activity.
The Nov. 8 poll is due to see 6,969 candidates from 93 parties, including 280 individual candidates, compete for 1,171 seats in the Union Parliament and state and regional legislatures.
Myanmar has over 38 million registered voters, of which 109,470 are in foreign countries.
State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said on Oct. 12 that 50,520 advance votes had been cast overseas.
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