Polling booths to be clustered at Tellipalai

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Polling booths from the high security zone, encompassing Palaly, Tellipalai, Kankesanthurai, Keerimalai, Maaviddapuram and Mayiliddy are to be clustered in Tellipalai, said sources in Jaffna. The booth cluster is to be at the Prisoners Rehabilitation Centre in the area.

It is believed that 2 - 3 booths are to be clustered here.

There will be 404 polling booths in the Jaffna peninsula for the local government polls due on January 29, according to the elections commissioner's office in Jaffna

Clustering of booths, first seen in Northeast during the 1988 Provincial Council elections is, according to election officials, done to ensure that adequate security is provided to booths and voters from attacks to disrupt the election.

However, critics of clustering polling stations say that on every occasion clustering has been resorted to, the overbearing presence of the military has intimidated voters and has led to election malpractice such as stuffing votes and intimidating election officials.

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