ANFREL election observes face awkward situation at polling booths.

Members of the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) invited by the Election Commission to observe the Parliamentary election were faced with an awkward situation at a couple of Colombo polling stations  when their credentials were challenged by officials.

The situation had risen when they attempted to enter polling stations.

They were  the only  observation team deploying a large number of observers at  the 2024 Parliamentary Election

ANFREL Executive Director Brizza Rosales told Timesonline , some senior presiding officers (SPOs) are unfamiliar with international observers and had asked for hard copies of their accreditation, even when they presented the digital versions.

She said some were verifying their credentials with the Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) despite already wearing government-issued ID badges."

“They were practically asking who is ANFREL? Where did we come from? They are asking about invitation letters and accreditation letters. We were presenting a soft copy but they wanted a hardcopy. We were saying that ID should be enough because it says we were accredited, " Rosales told the TimesOnline. 

“ We were also asked to talk to the ARO. We did what they wanted us to do. But after that, it went well.” said Rosales. 

Rosales further suggested that the legal rights of international observers should be recognized and institutionalized, so that both the public and election staff are aware of these rights. 

They also faced issues when attempting to take photos outside the polling stations.

"We did not take a photo of the ballot boxes inside. Our media team was covering the outside of the polling station, but the SPO thought that our media team had taken a photo of the ballot box. We were also aware that taking photos inside is not allowed. They approached us before we left and asked us to delete the photos. However, it was resolved smoothly afterward” Rosales said.

They had deployed 30 observers across Sri Lanka’s 22 electoral districts to ensure thorough coverage and evaluation of the entire election process.