Mandalay Region has nearly 10,000 Myanmar citizens living abroad who have applied for advance voting for the 2020 general election, said Shein Win, chairman of Mandalay Region Election Sub-commission. 

A total of 9,906 Myanmar citizens abroad applied for advance voting in Mandalay through Myanmar embassies in foreign countries. After scrutiny, 9,154 have been declared eligible to cast advance votes. 

“We have over 9,000 advance votes. Myanmar embassies abroad sent applications (Form 15) for advance votes to our commission. We checked whether or not they were eligible to vote. According to the list, there were 9,906 applicants. After checks, 9,154 are eligible. We are now making advance ballot papers and envelopes to be sent to those embassies,” Shein Win said. 

The Union Election Commission announced on July 2 that those abroad who wish to cast advance votes may draw Form (15) at respective Myanmar embassies there starting from July 3. Those application forms can also be downloaded from the websites of UEC, the Foreign Affairs Ministry and respective embassies. Application forms must be sent back to the respective Myanmar embassies within the period from July 16 to August 5. 

According to the Mandalay Region Election Sub-commission, the region will have 5,446 polling booths for the 2020 election to be held on November 8. Moreover, a district will have a polling booth for the disabled voters. 

The region has over 4.6 million eligible voters.