Tuesday, 25 June 2013 09:47
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By Dharisha Bastians
Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya yesterday pushed back potential dates for the Northern Provincial Council Elections to 21 September or 28 September even as the Government scrambles to push changes to the provincial council laws ahead of the poll.
The Commissioner of Elections said there were only four possible dates for the elections in September but neither 7 September nor 14 September were viable polling dates because his department’s work could not be concluded in time. “I will make the final decision on whether the date will be 21 or 28 September,” he told a media briefing yesterday.
Deshapriya said that the announcement of the date would depend entirely on the number of nominations the Department of Elections would receive for the Northern poll. “If we get a huge number of nominations, we will have to take the maximum amount of time to organise the election. If we just get one, we can announce the poll date immediately,” he quipped.
He said that in all likelihood the poll will be head towards the end of September. “Signs are rampant that polls will be held in the northern, north western and central provinces in September even though there is no official declaration so far,” the Elections Commissioner said.
Deshapriya said that displaced persons will be permitted to vote with the Department creating a comprehensive voter registry for the poll. “Applications can be made to be included in the register but the applications will require the certification of a grama sevaka,” he explained.
