• EC extends registration deadline

The Sri Lanka United Grama Niladhari Union (SLUGNU) claimed that the process of the registration of voters for this year (2023) could be delayed for weeks due to the lack of GNs in around 3,000 GN Divisions, in turn making it difficult to meet the deadline for registration announced by the Election Commission (EC).

Speaking to the media yesterday (30), SLUGNU President Kamal Kithsiri said that the registration of voters will be delayed further unless the Government takes action to fill the existing vacancies as soon as possible, as the GNs are working to conclude the receipt of “BC forms” (the document that should be filled first during the registration process) by the middle of June. 

“Earlier, we had planned to conclude the whole process by the end of February, but it was delayed till May because of the problems that existed within the EC. Now, the EC has announced a new closing date as the officials could not complete the process as was planned. The GNs are released for election-related duties only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But, most of the time, we are unable to acquire the necessary information from the people during weekdays. This has also been identified as another reason for this delay. The other major reason is the lack of GNs in 3,000 divisions out of 14,022 in total. Sometimes, one person has to cover two or more divisions which then leads to delays in completing the work,” he said.

Kithsiri also said that the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government should take immediate steps to fill those vacancies as the GNs have to cover a huge scope of duties within a division.

However, speaking to the media yesterday, Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake said that the EC has extended the closing dates for registration after taking all the prevailing issues into consideration and that therefore, voters can inform the relevant officers in the Divisional Secretariats (DSs) and District Elections Secretariats if there is any issue regarding the registration process. 

“This time, we have facilitated voters to register through our official website. A total of 322 new online registrations have been reported by this morning (30) while 262 people have changed either their address or their name through the online system. After the closing date, the EC will release a draft of the list of registered voters. If someone’s name is not included in that draft, he/she can visit the relevant DS or the District Elections Secretariat in order to make the necessary amendments,” he added.