Sri Lankan elections official under fire for anti-vote rigging plan

September 13, 2000
Web posted at: 6:39 AM HKT (2239 GMT)

COLOMBO (Reuters) -- Sri Lanka's preparation for next month's general elections ran into trouble on Tuesday after the elections commissioner became embroiled in a controversy over polling cards.

Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake is under fire in the state media for a plan to put secretly printed stickers on the cards which voters use to identify themselves on election day.

But Dissanayake said he was only trying to prevent vote rigging.

"The plan was kept secret in order to prevent any unscrupulous persons from attempting to sabotage the plan," he said in a statement seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

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It said the stickers would have been placed on the polling cards just before they were posted to voters, helping election officials to distinguish possible forgeries.

The state-run Daily News said on Tuesday, Dissanayake's decision to have stickers printed at a private press, instead of with the government printers department, had "raised serious doubts about his conduct."

It added police were investigating the matter which has also been referred by the ruling Peoples Alliance to the country's Human Rights Commission.

Officials of the Criminal Investigation Department which is conducting the probe declined to comment.

The statement said Dissanayake had decided on the plan after he was informed by the main opposition United National Party (UNP) that forged polling cards had been printed to rig the October 10 elections.

"The commissioner was personally satisfied with the honesty and integrity of the person who undertook the printing of stickers," it said.

The UNP said Dissanayake had done the right thing.

"We have complete faith in the commissioner and the entire opposition is backing his efforts to prevent the government from rigging the poll," UNP Chairman Karu Jayasuriya told Reuters.

Recent Sri Lankan elections have been marred by violence and allegations of ballot stuffing, and election monitors said this campaign was threatening to be one of the worst.

Formal campaigning began last week and clashes between rival factions have already claimed at least five lives.

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The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
Government of Sri Lanka
CIA -- The World Factbook 1999 -- Sri Lanka

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