YANGON, July 29, 2025 – Myanmar's State Administration Council (SAC) today enacted a new law that mandates the death penalty for anyone causing a fatality while obstructing, hindering, or destroying the election process.

The law, officially titled "Law on Protecting Multi-Party Democratic General Elections from Obstruction, Hindrance, and Destruction," is designated as SAC Law No. 48/2025.

Section 27 of the law explicitly states: "If any offense under this Law results in the death of an individual, all participants in the offense shall be sentenced to death."

The law prohibits any individual from causing the failure of the multi-party democratic general election processes, or any part thereof, by speaking, saying, organizing, inciting, protesting, or distributing written materials through any means.

Furthermore, the law forbids direct or indirect actions such as threatening, obstructing, or using undue influence, or voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt, with the intent to:

▪️Prevent a voter from casting their ballot.

▪️Prevent a presiding officer, polling station member, or any person assigned by the commission or sub-commission from performing their duties.

▪️Prevent any election commission or sub-commission member from performing their duties.

▪️Prevent a parliamentary (Hluttaw) candidate from campaigning in accordance with the law.

The law also prohibits anyone from willfully destroying, damaging, or causing loss to ballot papers, ballot boxes, voting machines, equipment, and accessories by any means.

Additionally, it bans the destruction, damage, or causing of loss to election commission offices, sub-commission offices, polling stations, buildings used as polling stations, or buildings where ballot papers, ballot boxes, voting machines, equipment, and accessories are stored, by any means.

The law further stipulates that anyone who attempts to commit any offense under this law, conspires to commit it, or aids and abets in its commission shall be liable to the same penalty prescribed for the original offense.

Under this law, penalties range from a minimum of three years imprisonment to a maximum of the death penalty, depending on the offense committed.

Multi-party democratic general elections are planned to be held in Myanmar between December of this year and January 2026. Some organizations and individuals have openly stated their intent to disrupt the elections.

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