Burma's constitutional referendum went ahead as planned on Saturday in areas not affected by Cyclone Nargis, amid accusations of massive cheating at the polling stations and reports of a very low turnout.

Many voters in several Rangoon townships, Mandalay, Pegu, Sagaing and Magwe divisions told The Irrawaddy that referendum officials had handed out ballot papers already filled in with a tick, indicating approval of the government’s draft constitution.

Voting in a nationwide referendum in Hlegu Township of Rangoon. Burma's junta Saturday held a vote on a new constitution, ignoring pleas to focus on delivering urgently needed food supplies to 1.5 million cyclone victims facing disease and hunger. (Photo: AFP)

They also complained that the referendum was not free and fair, saying they cast their votes watched by officials, including members of the government-backed mass organization Union Solidarity and Development Association and militias such as Swan-Ar-Shin. Officials of the organizations sat close to the ballot boxes and advised people how to vote.

Voter turn-out was reported to be very light, despite fevered attempts by the regime to persuade people to participate. State TV broke into programming throughout the day with a video showing a group of smiling young women singing a ditty in support of a “Yes” vote. "Let's go vote .... with sincere thoughts for happy days," they sang.

About 27 million of Burma’s 57 million population are entitled to vote.

Nyan Win, spokesman of the opposition National League for Democracy told The Irrawaddy that most polling stations closed at about 11 a.m. Officials then went to the homes of people who had not voted and made them fill in registration forms indicating they had handed in ballots that had already been filled in with a tick.

Rangoon-based Burmese journalists said security at polling stations was very strict. No foreign news agency correspondents or independent journalists were allowed near.

The cheating and intimidation observed on Saturday confirmed claims by human rights activists and western governments that the referendum would be a sham and neither free nor fair.

The regime had used both intimidation and vote-buying to assure itself of a “Yes” vote and would predictably resort to vote-rigging if it lost, observers said. Widespread rumors say the results have already been fixed to deliver an 84.6 percent vote in favor of the charter, an AP report said.

The government has also been widely criticized for pressing on with the referendum while the country is still reeling from the catastrophic effects of Cyclone Nargis.

"Instead of putting all resources toward saving the lives of the victims, the military is concentrating on legalizing military rule in Burma forever through a sham constitutional referendum," said a joint statement from the All Burma Monks Alliance, the 88 Generation Students and the All Burma Federation of Student Unions.