Manape robbery

The manner in which preference votes to elect candidates to Parliament are counted has given rise to allegations that all is not transparent when it comes to counting manapes. The process is susceptible to corruption and manipulation, say candidates who were present at counting centres.

On April 9, fisticuffs broke out at Colombo's counting centre where the Colombo district's preference votes of the UPFA were counted and recounted - with each count producing different results.

Eyewitnesses said almost all UPFA members contesting from the district were inside the computer room when election officials were counting the votes. Some of them spoke to the officials on a regular basis, giving credence to allegations that the process was not clean. The candidates were suspicious of each other's moves. The counting centre drama seemed to belie the people's belief that it is their votes that elect or defeat a candidate.

The chaotic scenes outside the D.S. Senanayake College counting centre on April 9

A UPFA member who had won more than 100,000 preference votes in the first count told the Sunday Times that a senior member of the party had approached him and asked him to leave as he had already won. Later the junior member told another candidate, "I don't trust him".

A chaotic atmosphere prevailed not only in the computer room and the counting centre but also outside where supporters of the candidates had gathered. Additional police officers and the Special Task Force personnel had to be deployed to control the situation.

Not only Colombo's counting centre witnessed the final ugly phase of the manape battle. It appeared to be the case in many counting centres including the Gamapaha, Nuwara Eliya and Galle centres.

Several defeated candidates at the April 8 general elections are crying foul and blaming irregularities in preference vote counts for their fate.

Outgoing Trade Minister and Colombo District UPFA candidate Bandula Gunawardena told the Sunday Times last week that variations in the results after each count had given rise to doubts. But he appears to be content as he has won his seat. But UPFA's Colombo District candidate Chandana Kathriarachchi was angry because he saw he was being pushed from a winning sixth position to the losing eleventh position as recounts continued at the behest of senior candidates who were lagging behind.

Mr. Kathriarachchi blamed election officials for allowing politicians to influence the counting process.
"There were many irregularities during the counting process, especially when recounts were carried out," he said. "After the first count, a few candidates and I left the counting centre. We were unaware that a second and a third count were to take place. Later, when we questioned the election officials as to why they did not inform us, they simply said they could not locate us."

He said he left the counting centre thinking that everything was over and the results would be sent to the District Secretary who acted as Returning Officer for his signature. "But when I realized it was not the case, it was too late," he said.

Mr. Kathriarachchi said that at one counting room, Minister Dinesh Gunawardena had to intervene to save about 600 preference votes cast in his favour while Wimal Weerawansa who topped the list managed to save 300 odd votes at another room. Mr. Kathriarachchi said that during the first count - when he was present - he also intervened to prevent miscounts.

Kathriarachchi	Azath Sally

"I believe that the gravest crime was not informing the party representatives about the recount. There was no transparency in the counting process and it was clear that the officials were enforcing a different law," he said.

Mr. Kathriarachchi said he would lodge a complaint with President Mahinda Rajapaksa next week and expose those candidates who distorted the people's verdict.

UPFA's Colombo District candidate Azath Sally also voiced concern over the counting process. His campaign staff claimed that the process was tampered with by rival candidates.

Mr. Sally's brother and campaign manager Riyaz Sally charged that his brother's preference votes were looted in a daylight robbery.

He said that his brother's campaign was backed by President Rajapaksa and he was confident that he would be elected.

"With our campaigning in Colombo we expected 10,000 votes from Kolonnawa alone. We feel that some 37,000 votes have been taken away from us," he said.

"The President wanted us to woo the Muslim votes away from the UNP. We did that and as a result, all three UNP Muslim candidates lost in the Colombo District. But where are those votes cast in favour of my brother?" Riyaz Sally asked.

Affected candidates said the manipulation of the count was made easy by the presence of a large number of UPFA candidates at the counting centre. They said all the UPFA candidates for the Colombo District were present at the D.S. Senanayake College Auditorium where the final preference vote results were announced although officially only two representatives per party were allowed.

But Colombo's District Secretary (Returning Officer) G.A.J. Sylvester said that once the party votes had been officially announced, candidates from the leading parties were allowed to enter the hall.

He dismissed allegations that manipulation had taken place. He said the system was fool proof because the results sheets issued from every counting centre were signed by the representatives of the parties who were present during the counting process.

When asked about candidates who won and lost during the counting process, Mr. Sylvester said: "In the Colombo District some of the leading candidates were constantly moving the list while the counting was taking place. One candidate who was leading the polls in the morning could be out by evening once the counting was completed. This caused some confusion amongst the candidates," he said.

Complaints are also reported from other parts of the country. In Nuwara Eliya UNP candidate Udaya Kumara Mylvaganam claimed that the officials failed to announce the party votes before announcing the preference votes. He charged that this lapse allowed unscrupulous officials to readjust the number of seats allotted to the UPFA to bring in a prominent UPFA candidate into parliament.

"Initially after the party votes were counted, our calculations showed that the UPFA had won four seats and the UNP three. However, when the official results were announced, the UPFA won five and the UNP two," he said.

Mr. Mylvaganam, who was the third on the UNP list, claims that due to the rigging at counting level with the help of some corrupt officials, he was deprived of his seat in parliament. He vowed to seek legal redress and expose the corrupt officials.

In Matale, UNP candidate Ranjith Aluvihare had doubts about the preference vote count and believed that he had come first. However since it was his brother Wasantha who was elected he did not go for a recount as there was an understanding that the brother would step down in the event if Wasantha was elected. But after the elections it did not happen.

In the Galle district, UPFA candidate Geetha Kumarasinghe claimed that she was deprived of a seat because of counting irregularities.

With every election being marred by allegations of vote rigging not only at polling booths but also at counting centres, the people are fast losing faith in the democratic process. There appear to be many loop holes and much room for manipulation and corruption. An independent elections commission could rectify the process but will the next government implement the 17th Amendment is the question.

COUNTING PROCESS

• A counting centre may only handle the counting of between 10,000 and 15,000 votes.
• Each counting centre will have 40 officials to perform its duties.
• Each political party is allowed five representatives at each counting centre who are required to overlook and approve the results from each counting centre.
• Once the polling centres deliver the ballot boxes to the counting centres the officials do a box count and proceed to count the party votes.
• Once this is done the officials at the counting centre make five carbonated results sheets which are signed by the party representatives and sent to the returning officer/GA.
• Only two officials from each party are allowed to be present when the GA will announce the results.
• Once this is done the preferential vote count begins.
• A results summary sheet of the party votes is then made out and sent to the representatives of the three highest polling parties.
• All the above documents are also faxed to the Elections Commissioner who decides on how many seats each political party is awarded according to the number of votes they have received.
• The representatives of the parties that have not secured 1/20th of the total votes are then informed and asked to leave the centres.
• The same process is then repeated with the preferential votes where ballot papers marked with one, two or three preferential votes are separated into three sub groups and counted separately.
• Once this is complete the leading candidates from the top political parties are allowed to enter the GA's office or the final results room where after the necessary approval is given the GA will announce the final district winners.