Large number of Jaffna displaced may help rigging

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
There are, currently, 472913 people in the peninsula according to an estimate made by the Jaffna Kachcheri on December 20. This population figure for Jaffna was calculated on the basis of the family cards which are issued to each household in the army controlled areas of Jaffna.

Officials at the census and statistics department in the Jaffna Kachcheri said that it is normally surmised that 55 percent of a population would be voters. This, according to them, means that there are about 240000 voters in the peninsula.

But the government is working towards the forthcoming local government elections on the basis that there are at least five hundred thousand voters in the peninsula.

This will be the case if the elections commission utilises the unrevised voters' lists of Jaffna.

Thousands of voters who have left Jaffna or who have died since 1983 are still included in the list said knowledgeable Kachcheri sources.

This will provide ample opportunity to unscrupulous elements to rig the forthcoming local government elections in a big way they said.

The matter will be certainly overlooked because the government itself could benefit later by these non-existent voters of Jaffna, say some political observers in the peninsula.