Archives

by Walter Rupesinghe

An accurate ballot paper account will be of immense help to the counting officer in detecting any irregularities that may have occurred not only at the polling station but also when the ballot boxes were being taken to the counting centre.

Some eight weeks from now 12.5 million voters will go to the polls once again in what is regarded as a mini General Election to elect members to 311 Local Authorities of which there are 18 Municipalities, 37 Urban Councils and 256 Pradeshiya Sabhas distributed throughout the island as follows:

The law relating to Local Government elections is contained in the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance (Chapter 262) as amended up to March 1989 and the Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act No. 25 of 1990.

It is expected that the independent Election Commission appointed in terms of the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution will be in place within the next few weeks to conduct these elections.

Nominations for these elections will be received from 1st to 8th February 2002. The date of poll will be announced after the expiry of the nomination period.

As the procedure adopted at an election is fresh in the minds of the voters after the Parliamentary General Election held last December this article will be confined to some of the more important factors to be borne in mind at the Local Government Elections.

(i) Of the 12.5 million registered voters for the December Parliamentary General Election 9.5 million voters or 76% of the total cast their votes at the December election. A similar number could be expected to cast their votes at the Local Government Elections at nearly 10,000 polling stations.

(ii) The elections will be held on the proportional representation system with preferential voting as happened at the last Local Government Elections.

(iii) It is sad to note that nearly half a million votes were rejected at the counting of votes last December. It is therefore the duty of the Elections Commission, independent groups and their candidates to educate the voters in regard to the manner of voting so as to minimise the number of rejected votes.

The accent on youth

In order to involve the young people of this country in the business Local Government and also to groom them as future political leaders, the Local Elections Law has provided that in every nominations paper submitted for a Local Government election not less than 40% of the total number of candidates shall consist of "Youth".

"Youth" has been defined as a person not less than eighteen years of age as at first June of the year in which the revision of the operative electoral register commenced, and not more than 35 years of age as on the last day of the nomination period i.e. 8th February 2002.

It is incumbent on the party submitting the nomination paper to the returning officer to ensure that a certified copy of the birth certificate of every youth whose name appears in the nomination paper or an affidavit signed by the youth candidate certifying his date of birth should be attached to the nomination paper.

A nomination paper that does not contain the required number of youth candidates and also certified copies of the birth certificate or the affidavit referred to above shall be rejected by the returning officer.

Police Commission

It is expected that this commission will also be established before the elections. The powers of the Elections Commission to issue directions to the Police are detailed in Chapter XIV of the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution. The use of these powers will no doubt enable the Elections Commission to eliminate Police excesses and also to ensure that we will never again have another Wayamba or an Uda Talawinna.

All of us have to go on working relentlessly towards creating a new political culture devoid of thuggery, intimidation, assault and murder which are abhorrent to the civilised society that we claim to be.

The ballot paper account

In the context of what has been happening in the past with unauthorised elements meddling with ballot boxes and even stuffing them it is important that the Elections Commission requires the senior presiding officers of the 10,000 polling stations to prepare meticulously and accurately the ballot paper account as required by section 59 (2) of the Local Election Law. The ballot paper account should show -

(i) The number of ballot papers entrusted to the senior presiding officer

(ii) The number of ballot papers that should be in the box according tot he votes cast

(iii) the number of unused and spoilt ballot papers

(iv) The number of tendered ballot papers that he had issued and the number of unused tendered ballot papers.

An accurate ballot paper account will be of immense help to the counting officer in detecting any irregularities that may have occurred not only at the polling station but also when the ballot boxes were being taken to the counting centre.

The Presiding officer's journal

This is often a devalued document. Many senior presiding officers do not realise the importance of maintaining a complete record of that is happening at the polling station for example the number of ballot papers issued every hour, visitors to the polling station together with their designation and time of visit, the names of the Police staff on duty, any irregularities such as unauthorised visitors, details of large scale attempts at impersonation and any other information that would help the returning officer to evaluate the conduct of the poll at the polling station.

Duty of the senior presiding officer to maintain order in his polling station.

This is a statutory responsibility vested in the senior presiding officer under Section 50 of the Election Law. He has the power take order out any persons who misconduct themselves in the polling station. He has the power to curb any irregularities.

He should not therefore hesitate to use his powers to ensure the smooth conduct of the poll.

The counting of votes

Up to 1983 counting of votes was conducted at each polling station and the results transmitted to the returning officer. Life has become more complicated since then and now the counting of votes is done at a central place. Some delay in the announcement of the results is therefore inevitable.

Counting agents appointed by the contestants should be people with alert minds and who are well versed in the laws and procedure relating to the count.

Election offences

Section 77 to 94 detail the offences relating to Local Government elections. Laws are as good as the people who enforce them. It is my fervent hope that the Police and the Elections Commission will work together very closely to ensure that there are no violations.

We cannot claim to be a democracy if we allow the happenings at the past elections to continue unabated thereby preventing the people from casting their votes without obstruction and without fear or favour.

Let us hope that the forthcoming Local Government Elections will be the beginning of a new era in our political culture.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager