Myanmar Holds Referendum on Draft Constitution Amid Cyclone Crisis

Myanmar`s junta held a referendum on a new constitution on Saturday, ignoring calls from the opposition and from around the world for its postponement in the wake of a devastating cyclone that may have killed as many as 100,000 people and left as many as a million homeless.

Polling stations opened at 6 a.m. and closed at 4 p.m. and vote counting was underway at some stations. But it was not clear when the final results of the referendum would be announced.

Voting took place in most parts of the country, but the junta announced Tuesday it was postponing until May 24 voting in all but five of the 45 townships in the Yangon area and seven out of 26 in the Ayerawaddy delta of southwestern Myanmar, which took the brunt of the Cyclone Nargis.

Western countries and human rights groups have said conditions for a free and fair referendum did not exist, citing a climate of fear, arrests of opposition activists, media censorship, bans on political meetings and gatherings, and the lack of an independent referendum commission and courts to supervise the vote.

"We are going to vote yes. Well, everybody knows it`s not good for you to vote no," said a housewife in her 50s earlier in the day as she headed for a polling station in the town of Bago, about 80 kilometers northeast of Yangon.

"I just cast my vote," said a 40-year-old voter in the same town, who smiled as he added, "Of course I voted yes. There is no choice."

"I voted yes," said 33-year-old Ma Thazin at a polling station in the township of Hlegu near Yangon. "I haven`t seen a ...