By Leenah Wahab

Colombo, September 21 (Daily Mirror) - Chairman of the Election Commission of Russia Shevchenko Evgenii who is part of an election monitoring mission in Sri Lanka offered insights on electronic voting to be adopted in Sri Lanka instead of paper ballots.

Making his remarks at a press conference in Colombo recently, he said, “We (Russia) have introduced electronic voting through smartphones or computers in lieu of paper ballots, which is being discussed with the Election Commission of Sri Lanka for the future.”

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka extended formal invitations to seven countries to participate as protocol visitors in the international election observer programme.

Chairman Representatives of the Election Management Bodies of the Russian Federation, Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh attended the meeting.

Chairman of the EC of the Maldives, Fuwad Thowfeek, said that international observers will be visiting polling stations in Sri Lanka including Jaffna, Trincomalee and Colombo. “Our aim is to oversee election organisation, ensure that it is practised within rules and regulations and that the freedom to vote is available to all eligible over the age of 18 years. We will be monitoring at a distance and will flag unauthorised or unadvisable activity” he said.

When asked about the absence of an Inspector General of Police in Sri Lanka, member state representatives confirmed that discussions with the police had been held to ensure full cooperation throughout the election period.

“We understand that there are a large number of candidates contesting for the election, and we advise voters to be prepared with the numbers they will assign to the candidates before arriving at the polling station.”

The Election Commission has also partnered with local observers and civil society organisations to strengthen election monitoring. Working closely with the European Union, 80 observers have been deployed island-wide.