Since the registration process of voters has been just finalized by the Department of Elections, they have started the registration process of IDPs living in both Northern & Eastern provinces. As amended by the Act of registration of Electors, No.27 of 2013 and the (Special Provisions) Act and according to the Registration of Electors, No.44 of 1980, a supplementary electoral list would be submitted to Parliament at the end of this month. Therefore, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), described in the act as, “a citizen of Sri Lanka who was permanently resident in the northern and eastern provinces and who was forced or obliged to leave from his residence at any time prior to May 2009 as a result of the armed conflict which took place in Sri Lanka and currently resides in Sri Lanka outside his original place of residence in these two provinces” would be eligible to register under this supplementary Act.
This act permits an IDP to vote in the electoral district in which they were resident prior to 2009, if his/her name appeared in the register of electors for any electoral district in the Northern or Eastern Provinces for any year until the end of the year 2009, and whose name has not been entered in any register in operation subsequent to the year 2009. Since the 2014 electoral list is to be used in all elections to be conducted in 2015, registration on this list is very important allowing a majority of citizens living in Northeast provinces to enjoy their universal franchise.
Time line of the registration process:
- 01-07 November 2014 – Obtaining applications from the citizens in the category described by the supplementary act
- 07-November 2014- Finalizing the electors’ list of eligible persons related to 2014 through the applications received
- 08-November 2014- Displaying the above list at all district and divisional secretariat offices and the Assistant Election Commissioners Offices in both provinces.
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Read this in Tamil and Sinhala. Download official government information circular and application form.