A smattering of poll results trickles in

Nem Davies - Mizzima

Voters in some parts of central and northern Burma approved the draft constitution by a margin of two-to-one, while voters in portions of Shan state rejected the charter, according to informal results.

The results, obtained Sunday, are only a small fraction of the overall vote. Final results from the referendum are not expected to be announced until at least two more weeks.

'Yes' votes outnumbered 'no' votes by two-to-one in seven constituencies in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Division, in central Burma. Ballots in favor of the draft constitution numbered 8,866, (67 percent), while those opposed totaled 4,231 (32 percent). Sixty-eight ballots were ruled invalid.

But some residents cried foul at the results.

"The station commissioner did not close the ballot box and checked all the papers as soon as the voters put their votes in the box," said a local resident who did not want to be named. He ruled invalid about 30 votes that were against the draft constitution.

A member of an informal group that was closely monitoring the polls said, "The result should be 50/50 because we could not get a chance to know the total votes in some places. Some commissioners did not count the votes and took them away from the booths as soon as the voters dropped their ballots."

He said they would release video recordings of the cheating.

In four townships of Kachin State and one area under control of the Kachin Independence Organisation, similar results were reported. Sixty-two percent of votes cast in the five regions were in favor of the draft constitution, while 36 percent were against, according to results obtained by the Kachin News Group.

In two townships in northern Shan state, voters rejected the draft constitution.

In Muse and Hnam Kham townships, 67 percent voted against the charter, while 29 percent were in favor. A very small number of voters, 4.5 percent, or 721 votes, were declared invalid, according to a local resident who monitored the vote counting.

Meanwhile, the vote was much closer in Yenanchaung Township, Magwe Division, where 53 percent of voters said 'yes,' while 44 percent said 'no.'

In Kachin State, nearly 100,000 voters' names were deleted from the eligible voter lists in Myitkyina Township before the referendum, according to the Kachin News Group.

"Hundreds of eligible voters from Sadung, Waingmaw Township, were told to go back without voting when they reached to the ballot station," one of the poll watchers told Mizzima.

In Meikhtila Township, Mandalay division, two-thirds of cast ballots in favor of the constitution, said local residents.