Over 50% sans NICS for LG polls in North

With less than two weeks to go before the polls for the Puthukkudiyiruppu and the Maritime Pattu Pradeshiya Sabhas ( PSS), over 50% of the reg- istered 44,000 voters are without National Identity Cards ( NIC), polls observers said.

To date, around 1,100 of these persons have applied and received temporary NICS under a programme initiated by the Elections Department, Keerthi Tennakoon of the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections ( CAFFE) said.

Mr. Tennakoon said that voters in the two areas are keen to register themselves to vote in the polls for the first time in nearly 30 years.

Most residents of these two PS divisions were among those worst affected by the war, and have been resettled in recent months, after the areas were cleared of mines.

Meanwhile, Rohana Hettiaratchchi of the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections ( PAFFREL) said that campaigning for the election was low key in these areas to date as people were still struggling with getting about their day- today lives.

Over 6,000 persons from these areas also still remain at the Menik Farm welfare camp, and the Elections Department has made arrangements to transport them by bus to Mullaitivu on polling day.

“It’s a four to fivehour trip and I am not sure how many will want to travel that distance to vote.

Some people are also adamant not to vote until they are settled in their original places of residence,” he said.

The number of registered voters in Puthukkudiyiruppu stands at 23,169 while in the Maritime Pattu PS area there are 21,513 voters.