“There aren’t any big conflicts in our Karen State. We can estimate this. Conflicts are unlikely to happen due to the household density, the situations of the towns and villages, and the situations of the parties in our state,” said Police Col U Tun Oo.

A ceasefire agreement has been signed with ethnic armed groups in Karen State, so nearly all of the areas are safe. The police will cooperate with the Burmese army in the areas where some small groups with opposing views reside.

A total of 656 special police officers have been appointed for each of the 656 polling stations across Karen State’s seven townships. There will be 205 special police officers in Hpa-an Township, 122 officers in Hlaingbwe Township, 99 officers in Thandaunggyi Township, 58 officers in Kawkareik Township, 54 officers in Kyain Seikgyi Township, and 51 officers in Myawaddy Township, according to the Karen State Police Force.

Saw Htet Wai Yan Kyaw from the People's Alliance for Credible Elections (PACE), who has been monitoring the election campaign in the Karen State, said “Karen State is unlikely to have conflicts because no problems have arisen during the entire campaign period. Also, the commission has said that polling stations are only opened when things are okay at the bottom. So, I don’t think there will be any big conflicts.”

The special polling station police officers received training last month. In addition one special police officer, each polling station will be guarded by four voluntary firefighters. A sufficient number of security police officers will also be assigned to general duty to disperse the crowds in case of possible conflicts, according to Karen State police.