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GS-certified photos as valid IDs for mini polls
By Shelani Perera
Photographs certified by the Grama Sevaka will be accepted as a valid identity for voting at the upcoming Local Government elections, the Commissioner of Elections ruled yesterday.

The directive to accept a photograph certified by the Grama Sevaka instead of the Divisional Secretary was given to the District Returning Officers who met Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayaka at the Elections Secretariat last morning.The decision was taken following complaints that as many as one million voters did not possess either their National Identity Cards or any other valid identity documents.

A District Secretary who took part in the discussions told The Sunday Times that they had been directed to instruct staff that IDs issued by Co-operative Societies would also be valid. This is the first time that the identity card is being made compulsory at an election.

With less than two weeks to go for the polls, providing nearly one million NICs is impracticable. Although the Commissioner requested election monitor PAFFREL to assist in the process, the organization on Friday expressed doubts as to whether the process could be completed.

PAFFREL which has been lobbying to make the National Identity Card compulsory at an election, called on the Elections Commissioner to postpone the March 30 mini polls in order to implement the new requirement.
PAFFREL Executive Director Kingsley Rodrigo said they appealed to the Commissioner to postpone the poll for one month.

“Now that a decision has been taken to implement the ID’s it has to be done systematically and followed at all future elections. It is an important step in the country’s elections history. We appealed to the Commissioner to postpone the poll considering the difficulty in implementing the process within 14 days,” said Mr. Rodrigo.

As an alternative PAFFREL suggested to the Elections Commissioner to provide Divisional Secretaries with digital camera’s to provide voters with their certified photographs. “This can be done with financial support from a donor.

They would need around 300 cameras. Although the Commissioner said voters can produce a Grama Sevaka- certified photograph, the Election Act specifies that it has to be certified by the Divisional Secretary,” added Mr. Rodrigo.
However, Mr. Rodrigo said that PAFFREL would commence an awareness campaign on the new regulation by next week as promised to the Commissioner.

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