Massive election fraud imminent, says ITAK

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 August 2009, 14:53 GMT]
Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) in a letter addressed to the Sri Lanka's Commissioner of Elections complained that 'a party' contesting Jaffna Municipal Council Elections Saturday is printing forged National Identity Cards (NICs) to commit impersonations to illegally obtain additional votes in its favor. Mavai Senathirajah, General Secretary of ITAK, in the letter appealed to the Commissioner to allow polling agents to verify the authenticity of voters to prevent fraudulent voting.

Full text of the letter follows:

Jaffna Municipal Council Elections ? 8th August 2009

Further to our previous communications with you, we wish to bring to your notice another matter that we consider to be of utmost importance in order to ensure that a free and fair election is held, but also seen to be valid.

As our previous communications have made clear, we are in grave doubt about how credible the above mentioned elections would be due to information that we have received regarding the possibilities of large scale impersonations taking place. Our latest information is that a party contesting this election has brought to Jaffna several machines that will be used to issue forged National Identity Cards. These machines are to be used to issue several thousands of forged NICs in order to facilitate impersonations.

Under these circumstances it is our firm considered view that all the political parties that appoint polling agents, through such agents, be permitted to verify for themselves the authenticity of the voters by checking the Identity Cards that are being presented by the voters. As you will appreciate all polling agents are people of the area who are familiar with the people of each area. As such they would be in a good position to check the authenticity of the voters. Further, these agents are being appointed by political parties primarily to satisfy themselves that a free and fair election is being held without any malpractices. Therefore, the polling agents being permitted to check the identity of the voters will not only contribute to a free and fair election being held but also being seen to be held. Thanking you.

Yours truly,
MAVAI SENATHIRAJAH M.P.
GENERAL SECRETARY