Postal Vote to go ahead as planned; Election Monitors to take action against Govt. Printer

by Zulfick Farzan 15-02-2023 | 12:57 PM

COLOMBO (News 1st); Postal Voting for the upcoming Local Government Election will go ahead as planned on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th of February 2023, confirmed the Chairman of the National Election Commission Attorney Nimal Punchihewa on Wednesday (15).

He said that the distribution of the ballot papers for Postal Voting was delayed, though the distribution process was scheduled to commence on Tuesday (14).

However, the Government Printer said that an issue arose regarding the provision of the ballot papers for the Postal Vote due to funding issues.

In the meantime, the National Election Commission and the Government Printer had engaged in a series of talks and based on those discussions the Government Printers is expected to deliver the ballot papers for postal voting in the coming days.

Moreover, Election Monitors have decided to take legal action against the conduct of the Government Printer for failing to deliver the ballot papers.

Election Monitors said that the Government Printer has taken an unconstitutional decision to not deliver the ballot papers.

Rohana Hettiarachchi, the Executive Director of the People's Action for Free & Fair Elections (PAFFREL) said the National Election Commission must also take legal action against the Government Printer.

Secure packages containing the ballot papers for postal voting were to be handed over to Sri Lanka Post on Wednesday (15), however as the ballot papers were not delivered, the process was suspended indefinitely as per a decision reached by the National Election Commission on Tuesday (14).