Bill on Registration of Electors presented in P’ment

The Registration of Electors (Special Provisions) Bill was moved yesterday in Parliament seeking lawmakers’ approval. 

The Bill will provide the much-wanted provisions to register internally displaced people as voters in their respective electoral districts by using their last permanent addresses prior to 18 May 2009.

“Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Registration of Electors Act No. 44 of 1980 and subject to Article 89 of the Constitution any citizen of Sri Lanka who has been an initially displaced person, whose name appeared in the register of elections for any electoral district in the Northern Province or Eastern Province for any year until the end of 2009 and whose name has not been entered in any register in operation subsequent to the year 2009 will be able to register in the electoral district he had been living prior to May 18 2009,” the Bill held.

Even though the Bill is valid for four years, those who have not reached their 18th birthday prior to being displaced will not be able to make use of the provisions in the proposed Bill to register themselves in their electoral districts. (AH)