School teacher lands in hot soup over marked ballot paper on social media

• Circulating a marked ballot paper on social media is illegal and punishable under election law  

By Huzefa Aliasger   

The Election Commission has lodged a complaint against a teacher in Mullaitivu for circulating a marked picture of a ballot paper on Facebook, an official said.   
Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake told the Daily Mirror that he is now facing legal action.   

The postal voting for elections which took place on September 4, 5 and 6 had a high turnout of more than 80 per cent of postal voters casting their ballots, according to Deputy Postmaster General Rajitha Ranasinghe.   
During this period, the picture of a ballot paper circulated on social media. According to the law, it is an illegal act and a punishable offence.  The election offence law states “From impersonation up to the defacing and destroying of ballot papers and displaying the marked ballot, fall under election offences. A person found guilty to any of these offences is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 2 years and become incapable of civil rights for a period of seven years.”