Thousands of Myanmar citizens working abroad are expected to return home over the next week in an effort to cast votes in the November 8 election, after a chaotic overseas voting process that saw millions miss out.

In Singapore, embassy officials had to extend voting hours and add polling booths to ensure all those registered could cast an advance vote, while in Thailand barely 500 Myanmar citizens registered, despite the country being home to an estimated 4 million migrant workers from Myanmar.

Some embassies were also reportedly sent the wrong ballot papers, or not enough for all of those registered to vote – a mistake blamed on the Union Election Commission.

Faced with evidence of the chaos surrounding overseas advance voting, U Sai Kyaw Thu of the Union Election Commission told The Myanmar Times, “The final remedy [for those not on overseas lists] is to come back to Myanmar to vote.”

Some ethnic parties believe their supporters may be taking U Sai Kyaw Thu’s advice.

U Naing Ngwe Thein, chair of the Mon National Party, said he believed about 10,000 migrant workers will return from Thailand to vote for his party.

“Advance voting is for passport holders. But most of our supporters just go across the border [illegally]. They live in Mon villages in Thailand,” he said, adding that the MNP has been campaigning in those villages across the border since December 2014.

Ko Aye, a case manager with the MAP Foundation, which works with Myanmar citizens in Thailand, said every worker in Thailand should get the chance to vote. But the embassy appeared to be inactive and the deadline for advance voting had passed, prompting many to instead return home.

“There was no information about how to vote, or check one’s eligibility. But I hear that migrant workers are taking leave between November 5 and 8. They are going home to vote,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Fly to Vote group is coordinating with Myanmar Airways International to arrange tickets for 20 people a day to return to Yangon from November 2 to 8, at a cost of US$260 return.

The organiser of the group, which is based on Facebook, said more than 22,000 people applied to vote in Singapore but only 16,500 were able to register. He said he expected the remaining 5000-plus voters to return home.

He added that airfares between Singapore and Yangon were rising day by day due to the demand, prompting some to transit in Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur.

“I believe that all people should be involved in this election so that they will support it to be free and fair,” said the organiser, who asked not to be named.

One of those coming back from Singapore is Ko Soe Tun, 44, who has worked for a real estate company in Singapore for 16 years. He has arranged several days off work to return on November 5 and cast a vote in Yangon’s Sanchaung township, he said.

“We have to vote in the election to ensure Myanmar goes on the path to democracy. Everybody wants to change the current situation so we will vote for the party that can really change our country,” he said.

Not all of those who want to return are able to, however. Ko Min Naung Soe, 29, who has been working in Thailand for four years, said he was unable to get time off work to come back and vote. He tried to contact the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok to seek information about registering to cast an advance vote but couldn’t get through to the staff there, he said.

“I believed that this year’s election will be more transparent than in 2010,” he said. “So I’m really said I’m going to miss out on voting.”

Even those who do return are not guaranteed the right to vote.

U Naing Ngwe Thein of the Mon National Party said he feared that returning workers might find that they were not listed in the voters register in their home towns.

In some areas close to the border with Thailand in Kayin State, including Kyainseikkyi, Myawaddy and Kawareik, voting has also been cancelled for security reasons, he added.

But attention has mostly focused on the large number of Myanmar expatriates who will be unable to vote. Both embassies and election commission have come in for heavy criticism.

U Myint Wai, a former sergeant in the Tatmadaw who now runs the Dear Burma Sunday School for Myanmar migrants in Thailand, told The Myanmar Times that he had heard no news of any arrangements for advance voting in Thailand.

“The Myanmar embassy doesn’t seem to be doing anything. I’ve heard nothing. It’s probably too late now,” he said, adding his view that the government would prefer migrant workers in Thailand not to vote, since they considered them likely to support opposition parties.

At a press conference in Nay Pyi Taw last week, UEC director general U Tin Tun admitted both the commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had struggled to manage the process.

He said the 30,152 people who were sent ballot papers represented an almost five-fold increase on 2010 when 6567 migrants voted, mostly in Russia. This year the highest number was in Singapore, with almost 20,000 voters, he said.

This time, the commission received 34,865 applications, but almost 5000 were rejected for various reasons.

“Some people applied twice, as they are worried about not being able to vote. Some even sent it five times. The number of these extra applications is 1519. Some applicants were rejected because their addresses in Myanmar were not complete so we couldn’t check them,” he said.

“We understand that people are having difficulty voting at embassies overseas. The staff of the election commissions, including the UEC, have only a little experience with organising elections,” he said. “We feel sorry for all Myanmar migrants who were unable to vote.”