Election rules breached in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Election monitors covering the Jaffna local polls recorded a number of violations of election laws in the islands off the Jaffna peninsula, said sources close to the independent monitoring committee.

At five out of eight polling stations visited by the Peoples Action Front for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), two vehicles, one of which was an Elf van, with cadres identified as members of the Eelam Peoples democratic Party (EPDP), were observed entering the election booths repeatedly today.

Some of the persons in the vehicles were seen with ballot papers stuffed in their pockets, said sources.

The only polling agents present in many of these booths were reported to be members of the EPDP.

This had enabled the party to violate the law with impunity. The islands of Velanai, Pungudutheevu and Kayts off the Jaffna peninsula, were among the areas observed by election monitors.

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