Arrangements in North for Presidential Polls

by P. Krishnaswamy

Government Agent (GA) K. Ganesh, who is the Returning Officer (RO) to the two Electoral Districts of Kilinochchi and Jaffna, and GA P.S.M. Charles, RO to the three Electoral Districts of Vavuniya, Mullaitivu and Mannar have finalised arrangements for the January 26 Presidential Polls in these Northern districts where democracy was restored after the total annihilation of the LTTE six months ago, according to reports.

The arrangements were finalised at a meeting held at the Jaffna Secretariat chaired by GA Ganesh and attended by Kilinochchi GA R. Ketheeswaran, who is Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) and S. Suthagaran, Assistant Commissioner of Elections (ACE), Jaffna, and at another meeting in Vavuniya chaired by GA Charles and attended by Mannar GA Nicholas Pillai, Mullaitivu GA Imelda Sugumar (who are AROs) and ACE A.S. Karunanidhi. The two meetings were also attended by Special Representative of the Commissioner General of Elections V. Shanmugam, former Batticaloa GA and officials from the Elections Secretariat, according to the reports.

ACEs Karunanidhi and Suthagaran told the Sunday Observer that they were currently engaged in establishing polling stations and providing facilities to vote for people who have permanently resettled, people in welfare centres, people in the process of being resettled and those living with friends or relatives. In respect of the last category, applications have been called from them for registration as voters in their present places of residence. Prescribed application forms have also been forwarded to the Grama Niladharis for issuing special Identity Cards to those without National ICs for them to exercise their franchise at the Presidential Polls.

ACE for Wanni Karunanidhi said they were also making arrangements for nearly 10,000 former LTTE combatants who surrendered to the Government Forces and now confined to 13 rehabilitation centres in the Wanni to also vote at the Presidential Polls.

The number of registered voters in the Wanni is 262,000 and over 50 per cent of them exercised their franchise at the last Urban Council elections, he said.There will be 68 polling booths in Mannar, 91 in Vavuniya and 50 in Mullaitivu in addition to cluster polling booths and special polling booths which would be established, he said. Of the 50 polling booths in the Mullaitivu Electoral District, voters belonging to all but one (Welioya) were displaced and are now being resettled in a phased manner. In Vavuniya, voters of 12 polling booths were displaced while in Mannar voters of nine booths were displaced, Karunanidhi said.

The total number of registered voters in the Jaffna Electoral District is 721,359 and the number of polling booths is 624, ACE for Jaffna S.Suthagaran said. The number of registered voters in the Kilinochchi Electoral District is 90,811 and the number of polling booths is 95. The number of registered voters in Kayts is 53,111 and the number of polling booths is 47 while the number of registered voters in Vaddukoddai is 63,991 and the number of polling booths is 57, he said.