The Burmese military junta is discriminating between rural and urban voters in Northern Burma in today's referendum to approve the draft constitution, local sources said.
Voters in key townships in Kachin State like Myitkyina, Bhamo and Waingmaw have been given the freedom to exercise their franchise in the referendum but rural voters are being forced to cast the 'Yes' ballots by vote commissions and villages' administrators, residents in rural and urban areas told KNG today.
According to voters in Myitkyina, the authorities are using minor threats but the people can vote quite freely. Aged voters in Lekone and Aye Zeidi polling booths in Myitkyina are being pressurized to tick 'Right Marks' on the ballot paper by the villages' administrators, residents told KNG.
But, people in Sadong, Indawgyi Lake and Phakant jade mining regions are being forced to cast only 'Yes' votes in the referendum, said people in those regions.
Since last week, the junta has collected advance votes from those areas. Some villagers were forced to tick only 'Right Marks' on the ballot papers and some were forced to sign on the ballot paper, the residents from Sadong and Phakant told KNG today.
In Phakant (Hpakan), thousands of jade company workers and raw-jade-collectors (Ye-ma-hsei) have already voted 'Yes' as advance votes before the countrywide referendum today (May 10) because they have to obey the orders of the companies' owners and authorities, jade workers said.
People in the Indawgyi Lake regions have been threatened with punishment by battalion commander Lt-Col. Min Naing of Infantry Battalion No. (105) based in Hsamaw and vice police officer of Chaung Wa, U Thein Naing, the locals said.
Vice-police officer U Thein Naing warned locals, "If you are really brave enough to cast 'No' votes, you will be punished with three years in prison."
Meanwhile, the two Kachin ceasefire groups, New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) and Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) told men and women in service in their organizations to vote 'Yes' in today's referendum on a new constitution, KIO and NDA-K sources said.
The junta is trying dishonestly to get more 'Yes' votes from rural regions rather than urban areas in order to approve its draft constitution, local sources said.
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