No Additional Transportation for Killinochchi voters on Election Day

by Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon

(July 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) At a meeting with the Elections Commissioner and all the election monitors held on 19.7.2011 at the office of the Election Commissioner, CaFFE brought up the subject of the lack of public transportation in the Northern Province on the Election Day.

All including the Officials of the Elections Department arrived at a consensus that it is mandatory to ensure the voters rights on the Election Day; transportation is one major barrier that stands in the way of the citizens exercising their voters' franchise.

CaFFE suggested the Elections Commissioners Department to permit civil society organizations to arrange free transportation by hiring buses as it can reduce the difficulties faced by the voters on the Election Day.

The five election monitoring bodies who participated in the meeting welcomed, and supported this suggestion.

An all party meeting was called by the GAs [Government Agents] and, the Assistant Elections Commissioners today [21.7.2011], at 2 pm and 4 pm respectively in the Mullaitivu and Killinochchi Districts to further discuss the issue of lack of transport of the voters on the Election Day.

However, the meeting concluded with the officials decision of dispatching three additional buses for the voters in the Thunnukkai Pradeshiya Shabha in the Mullaitivu District between 8 am to 3pm on the Election Day.

The infrastructure and access to public transportation in the Districts of Killinochchi and Mullaitivu are some of the worst in the Northern Province. The newly re-settled areas facing the worst of this situation, for example, the Mallavi Area in the Mullaitivu District where there are only 6 polling stations, some of the voters need to travel up to 21 km to cast their votes. Three of the recent re-settled villages in the area do not even own agricultural vehicles such as farming tractors in order to be able to transport co-villagers to the polling stations.

CaFFE is afraid that the decision of the Elections Commissioner and the District Returning Officers might reduce the voter turnout on the day of the elections, paving the way to thousands of voters being barred from exercising their right to vote on this significant day.