June 1 – Day to safeguard citizens’ voting rights

The Department of Elections has proclaimed June 1 this year as the day to safeguard the voting rights of all citizens in the country. To mark this day the Department has organized public awareness programmes on May 30 and 31 in all districts with the participation of various sectors and a march on June 1 to educate the people about the need to get their names registered in the Voters Register, said Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya at a press conference held at the Elections Secretariat on May 14.

The Elections Commissioner said that it is only through free and fair elections that people’s democratic rights could be safeguarded. As such it was mandatory for all citizens reaching the qualifying age limit to get their names entered in the voters register. In view of this the awareness campaign would focus mainly on 10 sections.

They are people belonging to low income families in urban areas including tenement gardens, upper middle class sections in urban areas, difficult villages with poor transport facilities, dwellers in luxury and semi luxury flats, plantation Tamil community, former residents in North resident in other areas, displaced persons living in the North, people living in rented houses, those hospitalized for long periods due to chronic ailments, residents in Elders houses and cured mental patients remaining in Mental hospitals due to lack of guardians.

Deshapriya said under this year’s revision of voting registers the distribution of BC specimen application forms for registration of eligible voters started on May 15. Counting of eligible voters would be concluded on July 15. The duly filled BC specimen applications will be accepted from chief occupants of dwellings in urban sector on June 2.

Deshapriya said countrywide counting of eligible voters within a short period would present opportunities to enter names fraudulently in voting registers with the intention of admitting children to schools and gaining entrance to universities or seeking employment.

He said chief occupants should obtain a receipt from Grama Niladharis when they handover the filled BC specimen form to Grama Niladharis.