Electoral officials in Mandalay Region are struggling to process requests for voters list additions from more than 70,000 people who have complained that their names have been omitted.

Regional election commission deputy director U Kyaw Kyaw Soe said Mandalay Region had received the largest number of these Form 3 applicants.

More than 26,000 of the would-be voters are in Mandalay district, the largest number, with only about 1600 voters applying for inclusion in Nyaung Oo. “The time allowed for reviewing and amending the list is over in Mandalay Region, though the period has been extended for some villages in Myingyan because of the flooding,” he added.

The details of more than 77,000 voters were amended following their complaints, and the names of 15,000 people were removed from the list when they were found to be deceased, the local election commission said.

The voter rolls were publicly displayed twice for checking and corrections, once in June and once at the end of August until September 8. The published lists sparked controversy for the slew of errors, duplication and omissions, with the National League for Democracy alleging that between 30 and 80 percent of the list was incorrect.

The UEC is expected to issue the final, un-amendable voter rolls shortly before the November 8 election. The commission has also promised voters who can prove their identity on election day will not miss the chance to cast a ballot, whether or not they are on the list.

There are an estimated 4,170,000 eligible voters in Mandalay Region.

Translation by Emoon