Despite President Mahinda Rajapaksa calling for early Presidential Election saying he wanted a mandate from the people from the north, an estimated 200,000 displaced have not registered to vote or applied as displaced persons to vote for the January 26 polls.
The Elections Commissioner has given time till December 24 for the prospective voters to make an application through the Grama Niladharis of the areas they are now residing to qualify to vote but only around 6,000 people have applied until Friday noon in the Jaffna and Wanni electoral districts.
There are some 120,000 remaining in IDP camps, most of whom are on the 2008 electoral list but have not re-registered to vote using the provisions for the displaced to vote because of uncertainty of their addresses in the next few weeks.
About 300,000 people were displaced in the last stage of the war, and of them about 200,000 are eligible to vote.
Vavuniya's Government Agent P.H.S. Charles told the Sunday Times that only about 5,000 from the camps had applied to vote.
"We have distributed the forms to the camps, Grama Niladharis and Divisional Secretaries, but it is upto the people to come and apply to vote," she said.
Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake who met returning officers yesterday urged them to take all necessary measures to facilitate the northern displaced voters to make their applications before December 24.
"We have informed the Grama Niladharis, the ROs and also sent out the message via radio to the displaced voters asking them to apply," an election official said.
The Commissioner also requested the candidates and civil organizations in the area to take interest in this regard as it was after 30 years that an election was being held in a safe atmosphere in the north and east.
According to 2008 electoral register, the number of voters from the Vanni is around 266,000, at least half of whom are displaced.
Centre for Free and fair Elections (CaFFE) convenor Keerthi Tenakoon said these people might not have the time to meet the required registration owing to poor administrative set up in the war-torn north.
He charged that the authorities were adopting a 'go-slow' attitude and said he feared a large number of people would not be able to vote. |
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