Officials in Yangon spent Saturday testing voting machines and preparing polling stations at a school converted into a polling place ahead of Myanmar’s first election in five years. The general election will be held in three phases, with subsequent rounds on Jan. 11 and Jan. 25. Critics, human rights groups and opposition parties argue the vote cannot restore democracy after the 2021 military takeover and say ongoing fighting in contested areas will hinder free and fair voting.
Inside Myanmar's Election Prep: Voting Machines Tested Ahead Of Weekend Vote
Officials of the Union Election Commission show a test slip of electronic voting machine as they prepare to set up a polling station opened at a school one day ahead of the first phase of the general election in Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
YANGON, Myanmar — Election officials from Myanmar’s Union Election Commission spent Saturday preparing polling stations ahead of Sunday’s first phase of voting, with technicians at a Yangon school-turned-polling site testing electronic voting machines and other equipment to ensure operations would run smoothly.
Photographer Thein Zaw documented workers calibrating devices, checking ballots and arranging polling-room layouts as staff made last-minute adjustments at a site converted for the polls.
Officials and volunteers of the Union Election Commission test electronic voting machine at a polling station opened at a school, one day ahead of first phase of general election in Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Context And Concerns
This vote is Myanmar’s first nationwide election in five years and comes after the February 2021 military takeover that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The military has presented the ballots as a return to multiparty democracy, but critics say the process is designed to bolster the junta’s legitimacy rather than restore democratic governance.
The general election will be held in three phases: the first on Sunday, the second on Jan. 11 and the third on Jan. 25. The takeover and subsequent nationwide unrest have since evolved into armed resistance in many parts of the country, and active fighting has complicated the logistics of holding a nationwide vote.
An official of the Union Election Commission tests electronic voting machine as they prepare to set up a polling station opened at a school one day ahead of the first phase of the general election in Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Human rights organizations and opposition parties have warned that restrictions, insecurity and uneven access in conflict-affected areas will make it difficult for the election to be free or fair.
Officials at polling sites emphasized procedural checks and equipment readiness, but many observers remain skeptical that the vote will resolve the deep political crisis or the ongoing conflict that followed the 2021 coup.
Photographs by Thein Zaw for Associated Press.
