TAMIL IDPs will lose their voting rights unless SINHALA Commissioner of Elections comes up with an alternative strategy to include them..!!!

An alternative plan to register voters in IDP camps urgently needed


2010-11-01

17 000 IDPs who still reside in camps will lose their voting rights unless the Commissioner of Elections comes up with an alternative strategy to include the IDPs who are eligible to vote in the 2010 voter registry. Although the deadline for the completion of the voter registry revision process of the North ends today (November, 1, 2010) the department of elections has not done anything to guarantee their voting rights.
The department commenced the voter registry revision on June and the process is almost complete in most parts of the North and the East. But the officials have not taken any steps to include the 17 000 IDPs who still live in camps into the 2010 voter registry.


CaFFE learns that the department has decided to postpone registering the IDPs until they are resettled. Therefore it’s safe to assume that it will be early 2011 when the Department of Elections takes the preliminary steps to register these men and women. However since there is no deadline for the total resettlement of the IDPs and the fact that Local Authorities election will be held in 2011 it’s more judicious to start a programme to register these IDPs now.
These people did not get the chance to elect their representatives for decades and it’s vital that we include them in the 2010 voter registry. This will be an essential step to rebuild their trust in representative democracy and the electoral process. A look at history points that a main reason for the ethnic conflict is the loss of trust in elections and the democratic processes.

However if the Department of Elections waits until these 17 000 IDPs are resettled there is a possibility that a large number among them will not be included in the 2010 registry.

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