SEE HOW SINHALA EC DEPRIVE TAMIL IDPs TO VOTE.!! THEY HAVE LOT OF EXCUSES!! IC/UN/USA/EU SHD REALISE THESE TACTICS & DO SOMETHING FOR TRUE DEMOCRACY!!

He went, he saw and he returned empty

Deputy Commissioner returns without much success

By Sandun A.

Jayasekera

Deputy Commissioner of Elections W.W.M. Deshapriya said yesterday that the Elections Secretariat has received only 23,000 applications and 31,000 applications respectively from IDPs in Vavuniya and Puttalam districts although the estimated number of eligible voters among them are 275,000. The Secretariat would set up cluster polling stations for displaced voters to cast votes outside their registered polling division. For instance, cluster polling stations would be set up in Vavuniya town for voters in Mullaitivu district, Deshapriya said.



Deputy Commissioner P.M.Siriwardana visited North during the last few days attempting to put a mechanism in place to facilitate all IDPs to obtain temporary ID cards and re-register.

He has reportedly held several rounds of talks with District Secretaries, Asst. Elections Commissioners and other Government officials involved in conducting the election.

He returned to Colombo on Wednesday night without much success.

Meanwhile, the main elections monitoring NGOs yesterday expressed concerns over the lukewarm attitude of state authorities including the Elections Secretariat on the issue of re-registration of IDPs and non issuance of temporary ID cards adding that 1.5 million are at the risk of being deprived of their voting rights on January 26.

The concerns of the CaFFE and the PAFFREL was further substantiated as the mission to North by Deputy Elections Commissioner P.M.Siriwardana to look into these issues and work out a mechanism has not brought desired results.

Keerthi Tennakone of the CaFFE said Siriweardana has been able to collect only about 23,500 applications for re-registration from the entire Vavuniya district.

“The Secretariat has failed to provide necessary infrastructure for IDPs to apply for re-registration. The IDPs those in the North in particular live under immense hardships and difficulties. They would not apply for re-registration or obtain temporary ID cards if they were not provided with all facilities. Not only the Secretariat but, assistant / district election commissioners in the North, Divisional Secretaries and Grama Nildaris have failed to compel voters to re- register and obtain a temporary ID card. This means about 1.5 million voters may not get an opportunity vote at the Presidential Election on January 26. It seems they have not taken this issue seriously,” Tennekone said.

It is time for the authorities to act fast as depriving 1.5 million voters their free franchise could affect the final results of the Presidential election.

Meanwhile, Rohana Hettiaarachchi of the PAFFREL said announcements through media for re-registration and temporary ID cards would not suffice to make voters act.

“You need a mechanism to influence voters who are not in a position to vote at their registered polling station to apply for re-registration to cast vote at a more safe and convenient polling station. Facilities have to be improved to issue temporary ID cards for those who do not possess identification acceptable to election officials,” Hettiaarachchi said.

The Center for Monitoring Elections Violence (CMEV) said it had noticed that the application procedure was misinterpreted and misunderstood. Some interviewees had told the CMEV that they had not applied to vote because they presume that since they were living in Vanni electoral district they did not have to apply.


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