The Arakan Election Monitoring Committee will be keeping a close eye on more than 400 polling stations on Election Day as questions about the freeness and fairness of the upcoming vote remain an open question with just over a week to go until ballots are cast. 

Arrested by the Tatmadaw more than a year ago, two brothers from Yaw Chaung (Ywar Tharyar) village in Myebon Township, Arakan State, still have not been heard from, nor has any information been provided about their situations, according to family members.

More than half of the eligible advance voters in Arakan State have been disenfranchised by the Union Election Commission’s decision to cancel elections in most of the state.

The seven village-tracts in Arakan State’s Ann and Kyaukphyu townships that the Union Election Commission (UEC) recently green-lighted to hold elections are notable for their stationed military presences, according to candidates in the townships. 

One man was killed and three others were wounded when a motorboat carrying relief supplies from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was fired upon in Rathedaung Township, Arakan State, on October 28, according to local residents and a lawmaker. 

Boat-borne canvassers for the Arakan National Party (ANP) who arrived in Thandwe Township, Arakan State, on October 27 had to cancel a planned campaign stop because the watercraft was not allowed to dock, with authorities citing COVID-19 restrictions.  

The Union Election Commission (UEC) announced on October 27 that 94 village-tracts in Chin State’s Paletwa Township will not hold this year’s general election, reversing course after indicating earlier this month that voting would take place in the township without exception. 

The Arakan forest turtle is at risk of extinction within the next two decades unless proper conservation efforts are made, according to the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA). 

The World Food Programme (WFP) has launched a chartered flight between Yangon and Sittwe, according to the WFP, as domestic air services have been severely curbed by the coronavirus pandemic. 

A house with a National League for Democracy (NLD) signboard in Kha Yaing village, Taungup Township, was pelted with bricks and stones this week, damaging the party placard, according to the village administrator. 

With a population of just a few hundred, wild elephants in Arakan State could face extinction within a century if not properly protected, environmentalists have warned.

A victory committee for the Arakan National Party is leading a boat canvassing trip through southern Arakan State as the clock winds down to Election Day, with the group arriving in Gwa Township on the evening of October 26, according to ANP candidates there. 

The World Food Programme is preparing to lend cellphones free of charge to internally displaced people (IDPs) in eight Arakan State townships so that they can receive monetary donations via Wave Money, a mobile payment service popular in Myanmar. 

The Ministry of Health and Sports will make an Election Day exception in areas where coronavirus stay-at-home orders are in effect, allowing the gathering of more than 30 people for voting purposes. 

Fourteen villagers in Ann Township, Arakan State, were arrested by the Tatmadaw on October 20, and family members are concerned for the detainees’ safety as it has been about a week since they have seen their loved ones.

Two suspects were arrested after a military vehicle was rocked by a landmine blast last week in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, according to a statement issued by the Tatmadaw True News Information Team. 

An 11-year-old boy from Sanbalay (Muslim) village in Arakan State’s Minbya Township was injured by a stray bullet allegedly fired by the Tatmadaw on Sunday, according to village officials. 

The Union Election Commission (UEC) is pushing ahead with elections in southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township over the recommendation of the military, according to a Tatmadaw spokesman.  

The military and the government are working together to secure the release of three National League for Democracy (NLD) candidates who were abducted by the Arakan Army earlier this month, according to Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun of the Tatmadaw True News Information Team.