Puttalam Muslims may not be able to vote, says EC

A large number of displaced Muslim voters in Puttlam could be denied their right to vote at the March 17 elections, officials said yesterday. “They might not be able to vote at the March 17 local government elections because of practical difficulties in transporting them to polling stations in their orgininal places of residence in the North on the day of polling,” officials said yesterday.

These voters have been displaced from areas like Jaffna, Mannar and Vavuniya for more than two decades now.

However, the election has been withheld in the Jaffna district now.

Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake, at a recent meeting with the representatives of the political parties in the fray, had cited that there were no legal provisions for him to arrange alternative polling stations in and around Puttalam for these voters to cast their ballots.

Also, he had noted the practical difficulties in providing transport facilities. An official who attended the meeting told Daily Mirror that the state buses that were arranged for the transportation of such voters at the last elections were kept in hiding for political reasons.

However, the Commissioner had postponed the elections to Maritime Pattu and Puthukuduiruppu Pradeshiya Sabhas in Mullaitvu since most voters had not been resettled. They still stay at welfare camps in Vavuniya. Altogether, the elections have been postponed for 64 local bodies.