2020 General Election Held; 73 Percent of Rakhine State's Eligible Voters Disenfranchised

On This Day in Arakan History ၊ November 8, 2020

November 8, 2020, marks the day Myanmar held its second general elections under the 2008 constitution, but for the people of Rakhine State, it was a day of disenfranchisement rather than democracy. One month earlier, on October 16, the Union Election Commission (UEC) announced the complete cancellation of voting in nine northern Rakhine townships—Pauktaw, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Kyauktaw, Minbya, Myebon, and Mrauk-U—due to "security concerns" from the ongoing conflict between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA).

Partial cancellations affected additional areas, including parts of Kyaukphyu, Ann, Sittwe, and Taungup. As a result, approximately 1.2 million people in Rakhine State—fully 73 percent of the state's 1.6 million eligible voters—were barred from casting ballots. For the Rakhine people, this date represented the denial of their fundamental democratic right to choose their representatives.

The November 8, 2020 election was historically significant because the disenfranchisement of 73 percent of Rakhine voters was unprecedented in scale and had clear political implications. Min Zaw Oo, Executive Director of the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security, stated that "the cancellation will lead to the disenfranchisement of 73 percent of Rakhine voters and inevitably push them to more radical approaches, making it harder for national reconciliation".

Critics noted that cancellations disproportionately affected areas where ethnic parties like the Arakan National Party (ANP) enjoyed strong support, while voting proceeded in areas like Paletwa Township in Chin State—a flashpoint in the conflict—where the NLD had won in 2015 . The UEC's opaque decision-making process, reported to be conducted in consultation with military-controlled ministries, raised serious doubts about the commission's impartiality.

Five ethnic political parties issued a joint statement questioning the cancellations. The AA itself issued a statement on November 12 calling for elections to be held in the affected areas and declaring a unilateral ceasefire to facilitate them.

The mass disenfranchisement of Rakhine voters on November 8, 2020, had profound and lasting consequences. As predicted by analysts, it deepened ethnic alienation and pushed Rakhine people toward more radical approaches . The ANP candidate Aung Kyaw Htwe warned that "the result of the cancellation of elections in most parts of Rakhine State will be more intense conflict" and that it would "impact the stability of the state, trust and reconciliation".

The disenfranchisement further delegitimized the NLD government in Rakhine eyes and fueled support for the AA. When the military seized power in February 2021, the Rakhine population had already been conditioned to see elections as instruments of exclusion rather than democracy. The November 8, 2020 date thus stands as the moment when Rakhine State's already fragile faith in electoral politics was irreparably shattered, paving the way for armed resistance to become the primary expression of Rakhine political will.