"The Carter Center election observation mission has deployed field teams to observe the electoral campaign, which officially started on Sept. 8. The first week of campaigning, as observed by the Center in three states, was peaceful, and parties report being able to conduct their campaign activities without significant difficulty. The Center remains concerned that strict enforcement of campaign regulations, and recently announced limitations on political speech, could have a negative impact on pre-election political space. The Carter Center also monitored the candidate nomination, scrutiny, and appeals process, including meeting with election commission officials and disqualified candidates. Overall, the process facilitated the registration of a large number of candidates across a broad range of political parties. However, candidate scrutiny lacked due process in some districts, and disqualification of candidates had a disproportionately negative impact on ethnic and religious minorities, in particular on Muslim candidates. Commendably, the Union Election Commission (UEC) intervened and reinstated some candidates, including some from minority groups. Not all such cases were reviewed, though, and almost all Muslim candidates in Rakhine state remain disqualified..."