Whereas the Union Election Commission of Burma announced that the country will hold general elections on November 8, 2020; Whereas Burma’s previous elections were characterized by controversy, conflict, and disenfranchisement instigated by the military of Burma (the Tatmadaw ), including in May 1990, November 2010, the April 2012 special elections, and November 2015; Whereas the ongoing Tatmadaw offensives in Rakhine, southern Chin, Kachin, and northern Shan states continue to cause significant displacement of ethnic groups, creating substantial challenges for the Union Election Commission to generate a verified comprehensive voter list and set up polling stations in conflict affected areas; Whereas provisions in the 2008 Constitution of Burma allocate 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military, conferring exceptional powers to the Tatmadaw and thereby affording the Tatmadaw considerable power to suppress basic rights, including freedoms of expression, assembly, and association; Whereas constitutional amendments proposed by the Union Parliament’s Charter Amendment Committee that aimed to democratize the Burmese Constitution and ensure equal rights, including voting rights, for all citizens of Burma were defeated by military lawmakers, further enabling the military to exercise outsized power and influence the country’s electoral processes; Whereas the National League of Democracy political party has repeatedly failed to uphold and protect the rights of ethnic and religious minorities since coming to power in 2015; Whereas, as of March 31, 2020, during the first four years of Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government, over 500 lawsuits against more than 1,000 individuals have used Burma’s legal system to repress peaceful expressions critical of the Tatmadaw, civilian government, and Aung San Suu Kyi, resulting in the imprisonment of journalists, such as Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, ethnic activists, and student protestors