Election day equipment, including ballots and ballot boxes, was delivered to southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township via military helicopter on Tuesday.
The materials are enough to accommodate the 10,000 people allowed to vote—more than 50,000 people in the township will not be able to participate in the election after the Union Election Commission (UEC) canceled voting in 94 village tracts, citing security concerns due to fighting between the Burma Army and the Arakan Army.
The election will take place in just four wards in Paletwa town, three in Sami, and in Shin Letwa village tract.
Lin Kyaw, the secretary of Chin State’s election commission, said that the military was employed to deliver the equipment from Matupi, Chin State, and Sittwe, Rakhine State, to Paletwa by air to stop it from being damaged.
“It’s safe and quick. It’s not safe on the land roads. That’s why we requested a helicopter,” he told Khonumthung News.
Helicopters reportedly made three trips to the township: the first was to deliver polling station equipment, the second was to bring ballots, and the third was to hand over advanced votes from abroad.
Lin Kyaw said that the commission has collected advance votes from people over age 60 from October 29 to November 5.
It was decided that police officers would serve as security officers during the election in Paletwa, following a discussion between the UEC, the Burmese military, and the Ministry of Home Affairs.