The names of 126,481 electors, which were revealed to be multiple registrations, had been deleted from Electoral Registers last year, states the Election Commission Performance Appraisal Report for the year 2017.
The report was tabled in Parliament last week. It stated that steps were taken to register them only under one eligible address.
“Instances where two or more persons have been registered under the same National Identity Card number were also revealed at the inquiries conducted through correspondence with relevant electors,” the report noted.
The highest number of multiple registrations amounting to 21,238 had been from Gampaha, while 19,832 multiple registrations had been found in Colombo. The number of multiple registrations in Kalutara had been 7,724, while it was 6,490 in Nuwara Eliya, 6,419 in Ratnapura and 6,302 in Kurunegala.
The Commission had also investigated and deleted from the Electoral Register the names of 31 persons, who were serving terms of imprisonment for various offences. The Commission in its report has noted with concern the gradual drop in the percentage when it comes to registration of new electors.
“The total number of registered electors in 2016 and 2017 were 15,611,970 and 15,760,867, respectively. This is an increase of 148,897 electors when compared to 2016, but in 2015 the registered electors grew by 190,765. Therefore, even though there was a numerical increase in the number of electors, the percentage of increase has decreased considerably compared to 2015. It should be noted that all citizens including political parties and civil society activists should draw their attention in this regard,” the report highlighted.
As per the report, the Commission has recognised six new political parties in 2017 after going through 94 applications.
The names of the newly recognized political parties are ‘United National Freedom Front’, ‘United Left Front’,‘Workers National Front’, ‘National Unity Alliance’, ‘National Front for Good Governance’ and ‘Socialist Party of Sri Lanka’.
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