Mizzima
The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which won a total of 537 seats in the 2025 elections under the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system, is facing allegations that it secured victories in many constituencies through early voting, similar to the methods it reportedly used in the 2010 elections.
According to the parliamentary representative list released by the junta’s Union Election Commission (UEC) on 3 February, the USDP secured the highest number of seats under the FPTP system, totaling 537 constituencies.
However, criticisms and analyses suggest that in some constituencies, the USDP’s victories were achieved through early voting.
Nearly all of these early votes came from military personnel, government department staff, and supporters of the USDP. Additionally, township administrators and village heads in certain areas reportedly pressured local residents and used improper methods to secure early votes in favour of the military-backed party.
According to the UEC’s constituency-level results, USDP candidates reportedly benefited from early voting in Kyaukphyu, Myitkyina, Muse, Hpa-An, Tedim, and Monyin townships.
Furthermore, in FPTP constituencies for the Amyotha Hluttaw such as Rakhine (2), Tanintharyi (1 and 4), and state and regional Hluttaw FPTP constituencies like Chaungzon, Tachileik, Muse, and Langkho (Linkhay), USDP candidates also reportedly won through early voting.
Ko Ko Gyi, chairman of the People’s Party (PP), criticized early voting and voter list irregularities via his social media. U San Sint (Retired General), PP candidate for Yegyi Township, also reported discrepancies in early vote counts at the township election commission office, stating issues inconsistent with regulations and procedures.
However, due to the severe offenses and penalties stipulated in the military commission’s “The Law on the Protection of Multiparty Democratic General Elections from Obstruction, Disruption, and Destruction,” people were unable to voice their criticisms publicly.
Major nationwide parties such as the People’s Party, Shan & Nationalities Democratic Party (White Tiger Party), and Myanmar Farmers Development Party (MFDP) indicated that early voting was non-transparent and flawed, yet they did not formally submit legal complaints to the Election Commission.
Instead, they submitted letters of grievance to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, highlighting that the military’s election was characterized by intimidation, lack of freedom and fairness, and a lack of true representation of the people.
Independent analysis by Data for Myanmar of constituency-level results released by the Election Commission showed that the USDP candidates outperformed other party candidates in terms of early votes in 81 townships in Phase (1) of election.
In Phase (1), 17 percent of the total votes obtained by USDP candidates were early votes. Similarly, in Phase (2), aside from Sidoktaya and Hsihseng townships, the USDP candidates received more early votes than other party candidates in 92 out of 94 townships. And 14.65 percent of the USDP’s total votes were early votes.
In the military junta’s election, which was conducted in three phases, the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system was applied to the Pyithu Hluttaw and Ethnic constituencies, while a hybrid of both FPTP and Proportional Representation (PR) systems was utilized for the Amyotha Hluttaw and the State and Regional Hluttaws.
The PR system allocates seats to political parties based on individual candidate votes in each constituency.
In the 2025 military-backed elections, the USDP secured 231 seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw, 108 seats in the Amyotha Hluttaw including PR allocations, and 379 seats in state and regional parliaments including PR allocations, totaling 739 seats overall.
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