Critics charge that the election is designed to add a facade of legitimacy to military rule. Final results are expected to be announced in late January.

YANGON, Myanmar -- Officials from Myanmar's Union Election Commission prepped polling stations on Saturday for the following day's election. In these images from photographer Thein Zaw at one school-turned-polling place in the capital, Yangon, workers tested voting machines and made sure everything was ready.

The droves of young people who queued to cast ballots in past elections in Myanmar were conspicuous by their absence from Sunday's military-run poll, with older voters dominating the turnout.

Voting is underway in Myanmar’s controversial general election. Doors opened at 6 a.m. local time and so far, at this polling station in Yangon at least, it’s been slow-going.

A roundup of live updates from The Irrawaddy’s coverage of the first phase of voting on Sunday, which was marked by violence, protests and low turnout.

A coup set off a brutal civil war and made a poor country poorer. Now its military rulers are seeking a veneer of legitimacy by holding elections.

Myanmar's junta said on Friday it will lift a curfew imposed in Yangon since its 2021 coup, just days before the start of elections

YANGON -- Myanmar's military regime will hold the first round of a general election on Sunday in a bid to secure political stability under its control and end a five-year period without an elected parliament.