Sri Lankan army Soldiers are seen casting their postal votes at an Army camp in Colombo March 25, 2010, ahead of the parliamentary election to be held on April 8. Postal voting is available to those who will be on election-related duties. Some 400,000 of the over 14 million voters had applied to vote by post.
Postal voting for the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka commenced today and will continue through tomorrow.
The Elections Secretariat has taken measures for 415,432 eligible voters to cast their votes at the respective working places these two days. The voters will be casting the votes at nearly 15,000 island wide centers.
According to the election officials, the number of postal voters has increased by 14,414. Only 401,018 were eligible for postal voting at the Presidential election in January.
The Election Commissioner Dayananda Dishanayake has requested the certifying officers to ensure that the voters can cast their votes securely as there were allegations during the presidential elections that some supervisors were able to see their employees' ballots.
The Commissioner has also pointed out that it is illegal to display banners, cut outs, posters or any other displays of any political party at the postal voting centers.
Meanwhile, distribution of general polling cards has already started throughout the country. The postal services have set Sunday March 28 as a special delivery date.
