No IDs yet for over 50% of voters

Elections observers in Sri Lanka say that over 50 per cent of the voters in Puthukudiyiruppu and the Maritimepattu Pradeshiya Sabha areas in the Mullaitivu District are without national ID cards.

Elections for the two Pradeshiya Sabhas are scheduled to be held on 24 March.

Election observers have said that 51 per cent of 44,000 registered voters do not possess ID cards.

Executive Director of the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) Keerthi Tennakoon has said that about 1,100 voters have received temporary IDs under a programme launched by the Elections Department.

Executive Director of People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Rohana Hettiarachchi has noted that the voters have expressed their willingness to cast their votes at the elections.

However 6,000 persons from these areas still remained at the Menik Farm welfare camp.

The Elections Department has made arrangements to provide these persons with transport facilities to cast their votes in Mullaitivu.

The number of registered voters in Puthukudiyiruppu has been recorded as 23,169 and there are 21,513 voters in the Maritimepattu Pradeshiya Sabha area.

(www.colombopage.com)