Ethnic Mon youth who will vote for the first time in Burma’s general elections this year held a meeting in Mawlamyine over the weekend to go over their participation.

Hein Lin Htet, an official in Mon State’s election commission, said that the young people—who just turned 18 years old—need to know how to check that they are included on lists of eligible voters.

“The first thing is that their name must be stated on the eligible voter list. Then they must go vote at the poll station on election day,” Hein Lin Htet told NMG.

The official added that some 200,000 more youth are eligible to vote this year in Mon State than in the previous election.

However, a representative of youth organization Mon Youth Focal Point told NMG that many of the eligible young people are not interested in participating in the electoral process because of ongoing challenges to life in the region, and their little faith in the government.

“It’s really important that youth are interested in the election,” Min Zarni Oo, general secretary of Mon Youth Focal Point, explained. “Most youth have the idea that whoever or whatever government comes into power, they will [still] have to focus on working for their daily survival,” he added.

The Mon State election commission reportedly plans to work with universities to promote voter education.

According to the most recent data provided by the commission last month, there are more than 1,750,000 eligible voters in Mon State.