As Myanmar’s three-stage general election reached its final phase today, 25 January, 2026, reports of systemic coercion have emerged from across Yangon. In several key townships, including Mingalar Taung Nyunt, Hlaing Tharyar, Tamwe, and Lanmadaw, street vendors and market stall owners were reportedly threatened with permanent bans on selling their goods unless they produced evidence of having cast their ballots.
At Tat Myo Market in Phasapala Ward of Mingalar Taung Nyunt, administrators explicitly warned vendors on 21 January that the market would not reopen after the election for anyone who failed to vote, an MGTN Scout official told Mizzima.
“They said we could vote for any party as long as we cast a ballot, but they pressured us by warning that the market would not reopen and we would not be allowed to sell our goods if we failed to vote,” he said.
Similarly, street vendors and some market stalls in Hlaing Tharyar, Tamwe and Lanmadaw were reportedly pressured to vote. In addition, all shops along major roads and alleys in townships participating in the third phase of the election were closed from January 21 to 25, according to local residents.
“I sell goods on the street because I have no other choice, yet they ordered the market to close for voting while distributing campaign flyers. They told us that, as citizens, we must vote, subtly implying that it was the only way we would be allowed to continue our business. It is a form of indirect coercion,” a roadside vendor from Tamwe Township told Mizzima.
The A Yoe Kone Market, Kyar Kwet Thit Road and Thati PatthanRoad in Tamwe Township are typically bustling with roadside stalls, but all small businesses—including eateries—have been forced to close, except for larger shops inside apartment buildings. The closures have caused significant hardship for both street vendors and the working-class communities who depend on them.
The military junta and its ward administrations are distributing voting slips to individuals listed on voter rolls in some townships, according to the Rangoon Scout Network and the Mingalar TaungNyunt Township Scouts.
“There were voting slips given to people, distributed in the same manner as in phases one and two. We are still collecting data on which townships and wards received them. As far as we know, they were not distributed in every township or ward, but randomly,” an RSN official told Mizzima.
The military junta is providing security for the third phase of voting, with numerous police vehicles patrolling the area. Local residents report that ward office officials are going through neighbourhoods each night using loudspeakers to urge people to vote.
For security reasons, roads in and around polling stations were closed to traffic, vehicles were barred from entering or leaving, and roadside shops near the stations were ordered to shut down for five days, from 21 to 25 January.
The townships included in the final phase of the election are Dagon, Latha, Seikkyi/ Khanaungto, Dala, Dagon Myothit (Seikkan), Dagon Myothit (East), Mingalar Taung Nyunt, Thaketa, North Okkalapa, Tamwe, Yankin, Kyauktan, Kayan, Thongwa, Sanchaung, Hlaing Tharyar (West), and Hlaing Tharyar (East).
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