By: AswathyNair
Chairman of the Election Commission Mahinda Deshapriya yesterday (07) stated that the aim of the Election Commission is to expedite parliamentary elections and support democracy.
The Election Chief said conducting the election in epidemic circumstances following extra safety precautions will cost more than a normal election and therefore, a rehearsal had been carried out before making decisions on the election.
A mock ‘General Election’ was held yesterday from 7 am to 12 noon at the Sri Dhammayukthikaramaya in Ambalangoda under the guidance of Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya, Additional Elections Commission Director General Saman Sri Ratnayake, and Assistant Commissioner of Elections Rasika Peiris conforming to the health guidelines issued by the Health Services Director General and the Health Ministry.
The main objective of the rehearsal was to identify the issues that may arise when operating a polling center in accordance with the health regulations.
Over 200 residents of the area were used as voters and the rehearsal was conduct adopting hygiene measures such as maintaining personal distance and using face masks and disinfectants without touching national identity cards. Cotton balls were used to stain the fingers without touching the hands and after voting the hands were disinfected.
Expressing his views after the mock election, Deshapriya said the rehearsal program was implemented to see how voting can be conducted under the current normal circumstances while aiming to prevent the spread of the disease.
He said at this rehearsal, about 100 votes were cast in an hour following the health guidelines and if there is only one line of voters about 900 people can cast their votes in 9 hours.
The Election Chief said they hope to conduct similar rehearsals in other districts in the future as well depending on the facilities in each area.
“Each of these steps aims to prepare a mechanism to hold the election. There was no serious problem today. But this cannot be normalized. This is because not all polling centers have the same facilities. Also, about 15,000 additional employees will be needed for hands sanitization. Also disinfectants, face masks should be provided to the officials.”
All this requires extra money. But the election must be held. Democracy is expensive. Because of it is people’s money, all these expenses need to be checked. Earlier the expenditure for the election was estimated to be Rs. 600 to Rs. 700 million. But now it is impossible to say. It can be estimated properly in about two weeks,” the Election Commission Chairman said.
“Also, a country ruled by bureaucrats will go to dictatorship if it is temporary. Therefore, the Election Commission wants to prevent that by holding the Parliamentary Election. We will do our utmost to avoid hearing that the COVID-19 pandemic situation escalated after this election. This is how we have to hold Provincial Council election in 2021. The situation may not be 100 percent controlled,” the Election Chief cautioned.
