With travel restrictions in the Covid-19 pandemic, Myanmar citizens living in Australia, New Zealand and other far eastern countries are reportedly facing difficulty casting advance votes for the 2020 general election.
Only one polling station will be opened at the Myanmar Embassy in Canberra, Australia, so the Myanmar citizens in Australia and New Zealand and other far eastern countries including the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands can vote.
“It is due to the travel restrictions in the Covid crisis. For me, it is not OK to go to Canberra to vote. Crossing to other states is impossible now,” said a Myanmar student from Adelaide.
It takes about a 12-hour driver to go from Adelaide to Canberra.
The Myanmar Embassy in Australia first announced the opening of its polling booth only for one day on October 10. But it has changed to open the booth for three days from October 10 to 12.
“To go to Canberra for votes, it is the worst thing that we face travel restrictions. We can be allowed to get outside of the province only for emergency cases. When we re-enter, we have to go into quarantine for two weeks. How can we take leave from work? It is worse if we have a family,” Sofi, a Myanmar citizen, living in Western Australia.
Some Myanmar citizens abroad have demanded the government arrange mail-in voting.
The Myanmar Embassy in Australia has announced that it has no infrastructure for online voting adding that the Union Election Commission does not allow voting by mail.
There are over 1,500 Myanmar citizens in those countries who are eligible to cast advance votes.
