Sections of public servants, security personnel and police were deprived of postal voting as their applications to vote did not reach the Elections Office in time, Elections Department officials disclosed raising fears in some quarters that those responsible might attempt to disrupt polling on election day (January 26).
All cases where postal vote applications were rejected are yet to be documented, but according to figures tabulated by election monitors there were high number of rejections from security forces camps and police stations.
A spokesman for the Elections Department in Colombo said one of the reasons for the rejections was that the applications had not been received in time, but Police Elections Chief Gamini Navaratne rejected the claim. He told The Sunday Times that his department could not accept the responsibility for the rejection of postal vote applications and the Commissioner of Elections should be held responsible.
From the Uhana Air Force camp, 400 of the 811 applications were rejected. Of the 977 applications from Bakkiella Police area, 154 were rejected, of Dehiattakandiya police area from 288 applications, 107 applications were rejected and in the Ampara Police area, of the 943 applications, 109 were rejected.
This has also been brought to the notice of the Elections Commissioner’s office by the affected service personnel and election monitors. The figures have been obtained by monitors from the respective institutions.
Postal voting applications closed on December 18, but some of the applications handed over to their respective
institutions had not been received by the Elections Department. Several had not been informed why they didn’t receive a vote.
An Elections Department spokesman said public servants or security forces personnel who could not cast their postal ballot on the two days given would still be entitled to vote on elections day.
However, The Sunday Times learns that the majority of those who have been deprived of their postal votes are armed services or Police personnel who would not be able to obtain leave on the day of elections because they would be on official duty.
These reports come amidst complaints that, for the first time, postal voting on January 12 and 13 was marred by impersonation, intimidation and certifying officials ordering voters to show their ballot papers to them after marking their vote.
Both, main opposition Political parties – the UNP and the JVP -- have taken up these issues with the Elections Commissioner. They have also expressed concern about the same officials acting in a biased manner at the elections on January 26.
Their complaints also included instances of postal vote applications being rejected in large scale from army camps and police stations and delays in allowing polling agents entering the camps or Police stations to observe the polling.
Among the many allegations is the case where the OIC of the Rathota police station in the Matale Division forced his subordinates to show the ballot paper to him after voting apparently to confirm that they had voted in favour of the incumbent President.One victim, Gamini Karunaratna, a Civil Volunteer Force member, told the Sunday Times yesterday when he went to vote he found that the election officials had been sent off and only the OIC and two women constables were present. He was told to show them the ballot paper after marking it.
“I marked the ballot paper and sealed it by inserting into an envelope. I handed it over to the OIC to include it in the large envelope. Instead, he pulled out the ballot paper and looked at it and threatened me because I had not voted for President Rajapaksa,” he said.
But, OIC Nihal Jayaweera denied that he wanted to see the marked ballot paper. “He came with the ballot paper unfolded and I happened to see whom he had voted for,” the OIC said.
However, the victim said he had complained to Assistant Superintendent Gamini Seneviratne who had carried out an inquiry into the matter and recorded statements from both parties.
In another case, a soldier attached to the Pooneryn camp had applied for a postal vote under the name of a leading businessman in Nochchiyagama town. Businessman Pushpakumara Ekanayaka told the Sunday Times that the soldier, a resident of an adjoining village, had cast his vote in the Pooneryn camp.
“After I complained to the Additional Elections Commissioner in Anuradhapura, the soldier came to me and apologized. He claimed he did what he did on the instruction of a senior officer in the Pooneryn camp,” the businessman said.
Two teachers, M.G. Thilakaratne and P.M. Subasinghe who went to vote at the Zonal Education office in Matale, found that their votes had already been cast while at the Anuradhapura Zonal Education office the certifying officer allegedly arrived late and was absent for another two hours depriving more than 100 teachers of their voting rights.
At the Saliyapura army camp, polling agents were denied access for more than two hours.Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara confirmed the delay, but said “it was because we were checking their credentials”. He said they had called for an explanation from the camp officials.
UPFA General Secretary Susil Premjayanth said if there were any irregularities, the Commissioner of Elections would have to look into them. He said that any public servant who was a registered voter and was deprived of voting could cast his ballot on January 26.
However, in the event if the public servant is on election duty he or she would not be able to vote while the leave of all security forces personnel has been cancelled on election day. |
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