Mon State Election Sub-commission Secretary, U Hein Lin Htet, reported that over 150,000 persons in Mon State are now over the age of 18, and will be able to cast their first vote in the upcoming 2020 general election.  

There are more than 17 million persons on the voters list within Mon State, an increase of 200,000 voters and the majority of these new voters are young people.

Previous elections in Myanmar saw few voters registered. In 2010, there more than 10 million voters eligible to vote in Mon State and 15 million voters were registered in the 2015 election.

According to the Union Election Commission, there are more than 4 million youth voters nationwide.

Youth in Mon state need to be able to vote in the upcoming election because they have to make their own choice to get a good representative, said Ko Banyar Aung.

“I have reached the eligible age to vote by 2020, so it is going to be my first time to vote. To fulfill the duty of a citizen, and it is a good chance to elect good candidates so that the bad candidates do not win,” he said.

Ko Banyar Aung added that youth who are eligible still need to learn more about Voter Education.