Today and tomorrow:

WPC postal voting begins

Chaminda PERERA

The Elections Department will conduct postal voting for the Western Provincial Council elections today and tomorrow at Government institutions where over 35,000 Public servants are expected to cast their vote.

According to Elections Department sources, postal voting centres manned by Postal vote certifying officers will be closely monitored by Assistant Returning officers. Political parties contesting the election have been informed to send their representative to the centres to ensure transparency in the voting process.

An Election Department official said these centres will be set up in the North and East too where Security Forces are on duty. The Department extended the period of accepting the application for postal voting from public servants from February 16 to February 26.

The Department has allowed the People’s Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFEREL) and the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) to enter polling centres and monitor the voting process.

The Department has also conducted a special training program for postal vote certifying officers, an official said.

According to Kalutara Returning Officer S. Hapurarachchi, over 10,726 public servants are entitled to cast their vote by post and all officials attached to the institutions where postal voting takes place have been educated on the postal voting process.

The Assistant Returning Officer in the Colombo district said over 8,600 Public servants are eligible for postal voting in the Colombo district and representatives of the Political parties contesting the election have been educated on the postal voting process.

There are 15,728 postal voters in the Gampaha district.