Civic Action for Free and Fair Election (CAFFE) Project has been a coordinating project among Mon CSOs, Rehmonnya Institute for Civic Engagement (RICE), Jee-pyah Civic Society Development Organization (JCSDO), Mon Youth Progressive Organization (MYPO), Konhongsar and Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), and they have actively involved in the activities from public consultations on elections to voters’ education and then election observations.
CAFFE Project Team targeted areas in southern Burma/Myanmar are 14 Townships, mainly targeting 10 Townships in Mon State, 3 Townships in Karen State, and 1 Township in Tharninthayi (Tenasserim Division).
CAFFE Project has conducted election monitoring since early September 2020, after UEC announced allowing the political parties to start their political campaigns. During the period of the election campaign till November 6, 2020, CAFFE Project Teams appointed 24 observers and first they have observed the activities of the political parties in election campaigns, in following the Covid-19 prevention rules and laws, and observed the advance voting in southern Myanmar and in Thailand. After that, they have conducted interviews with 150 people in 14 Townships, in order to know their views on elections. Before these observers conducted pre-election observation, CAFFE Project Team and its partners were provided with training, what information needed to collect, and they also coordinated in developing the survey form. The survey form has 5 sessions in form, and it has 17 questions in total. The Project Team and its partners used the survey form and interviewed 150 people in 14 Townships in southern Burma/Myanmar.
On the election day of November 8, 2020, some CAFFE Project Team members were registered in Mon State Election Commission along with other Mon CSOs, and they were permitted Election Day observation. Then, it also trained about 5 people and let them interview 50 people in total. They interviewed the election day observers, the village administrators, and representatives of political parties who have the right to stay in the poll stations. Election Day Observation Form has 3 sessions of questionaries, it has a total of 28 questions altogether. They could ask 50 people in 14 Townships and at least 3-4 people per Township, who were observing the election process in different poll stations.
After the election, the Project Team have followed the situation of conflict in vote counting and election results. In this situation, the Project Team just has to follow the news and information from the political parties. There was no much complaint and arguments in election results. But the political parties were complaining to each other. Since there was a Covid-19 crisis in the entire country, the voters prepared to cast their votes amid a dangerous Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, the CAFFE Project’s election observers were very careful in their travels and monitoring election activities.
This report compiles the situation analysis before, during, and after elections. The survey and interviews in quantitative research methods provided the data, numbers, and percentages on the pre-election and election day situation. The facts and information from all types of researches, situation analysis, and media references are compiled in this report, and some graphs and maps are taken from CAFFE’s previous reports and other organizations’ reports.
