2020 General Elections: Campaign Observation Preliminary Report

Download full preliminary report here

Starting from September 28, PACE deployed 319 long-term observers (LTOs) to 319 townships,[1] where they will observe the whole campaign until November 7. The observation has been done according to the principles set out in the Declaration of Global Principles for Nonpartisan Observation and Monitoring by Citizen Organizations (DoGP) and the regional instrument, the Bangkok Declaration Free and Fair Elections. Initially, PACE planned to begin its observation during the first voter list display (July 27 to August 14), and continue during the two months of the campaign period. However, because of the delay in getting accreditation,[2] PACE was only able to start its LTOs training on September 14 and to deploy on September 28. From September 28 until October 11, PACE interviewed 307 sub-commission members and 1,108 candidates or candidate representatives and observed 719 rallies in all 319 townships. This report includes reports from 307 of the 319 LTOs[3], as communication issues prevented PACE from collect reports from Khaunglann Hpu in Kachin, and Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, Kyauktaw, Myebon and Mrauk-U in Rakhine. These preliminary findings are based on PACE’s observation during this period. Because of COVID-19 prevention guidelines and restrictions, there were not many rallies on the ground and PACE’s observers only attended a limited number of rallies happening in their respective townships. The findings only represent the views of the candidates and the sub-commission members interviewed, and the rallies observed. However, we hope that these findings will be useful to identify trends in campaign activities during the pre-election period.