Myanmar Starts First Election Phase Since 2021 Coup

Myanmar's military junta prepared polling stations across the country on Saturday for the first phase of a general election set to begin Sunday, marking the nation's first national vote in five years since a 2021 army coup. The polls, limited to areas under military control, are unfolding amid ongoing civil war and widespread international skepticism about their legitimacy.

In Yangon, the capital, workers at a school converted into a polling site tested voting machines and arranged ballots, according to officials from the Union Election Commission. Voting will occur in three phases: the initial round on December 28 in about 110 townships, followed by January 11 and a final phase on January 25 covering 63 more townships, for a total of 265 out of Myanmar's 330 townships. The elections exclude vast swaths of territory held by rebel groups and ethnic armed organizations, where fighting has displaced millions and killed thousands since the coup.

The military seized power in February 2021, ousting the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi after her National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory in 2020 polls. The junta alleged widespread voter fraud, a claim...