Voting concludes in Myanmar's general elections

Officials of the Union Election Commission count votes during the multi-party general elections at a polling station in Yangon, Myanmar, Nov. 8, 2020. Myanmar concluded the voting of its multi-party general elections successfully across the country on Sunday afternoon. (Xinhua/U Aung)

YANGON, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar concluded the voting of its multi-party general elections successfully across the country on Sunday afternoon.

The ballots are now being counted at the polling stations with the presence of running candidates, local and international observers after the polling stations closed at 4:00 p.m. local time.

According to the Union Election Commission (UEC)'s recent announcement, the election results will be released starting from Monday via state-run media, official websites and online platforms.

Over 37 million eligible voters cast the ballots at the 42,047 polling stations across the country in the general elections.

A total of 5,639 candidates, including candidates from 87 political parties and 260 independent runners competed for 1,117 parliamentary seats in the elections, according to the UEC.

Of the total, 1,565 candidates ran for seats of the House of Representatives (Lower House), 779 candidates for seats of the House of Nationalities (Upper House), 3,112 for seats of regional or state parliaments and 183 for ethnic minority seats.