Secrecy of ballot compromised by layout of polling stations – ANFREL raise concerns

By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe and Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana   

Commending Sri Lankan voters for their commitment to democracy as demonstrated by their participation in the 2024 Parliamentary Elections, the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) raised serious concerns about the secrecy of the ballot compromised by the layout of the polling stations.   

Issuing its Interim Report in Colombo yesterday, the international election observation mission highlighted some key concerns with regards to misuse /abuse of state resources, campaign finance law and impact on low voter turnout, issues pertaining to inclusivity and accessibility while providing several short term and long term recommendations for key stakeholders.   

The report indicated that in around 28% polling stations, the layout for polling stations has been compromised the secrecy of the ballot. The close positioning of electoral officials to the polling booth, in some instances within a 45 degree angle could easily have compromised the secrecy of the ballot being marked by the voter, which is a very serious issue.   

Another concern was the presence of armed police officers and that their proximity could have an intimidating effect. As such ANFREL recommends that the layout for polling stations should be revised to prevent staff positioning from compromising ballot secrecy.    Speaking about their preliminary findings Asiath Rilweena, ANFREL’s Executive Council member said that their observations conclude this Parliamentary Election to be free and transparent despite being less competitive compared to the recent Presidential Election.    “The pre-election period, Election Day and post-election environment was quite calm and peaceful with minor incidents of electoral violations, remarkably lower cases of abuse of state resources or vote-buying.    We applaud Sri Lankan voters for showing exemplary discipline and commitment to exercising their voting rights and participating in this important process. The lower voter turnout of 65% sent a clear message to political institutions to address critical issues such as economic recovery, political stability and governance reforms,” she added.   

ANFREL officials also commended the Elections Commission of Sri Lanka (ECSL) and other electoral stakeholders for successfully administering and controlling another general election.   

Addressing some of the key issues that were observed during the observation missions, Brizza Rosales, ANFREL’S Executive Director said, inclusivity was one of the main focuses of the mission with engagement of women candidates and voters, persons with disabilities, elderly voters, plantation workers, LGBTQI+ communities and other marginalized and minority groups to evaluate the election’s fairness and inclusivity.    In terms of accessibility the observers identified significant issues with many polling stations lacking wheelchair accessibility, highlighting the need for immediate solutions to ensure inclusivity for persons with disabilities,” Rosales added.    She further said that the legal framework should provide transparency when it comes to campaign financing as well as independent finance monitoring. “The new campaign finance law reduced overall campaign expenditure and increase competitiveness, which led to fewer campaign activities, potentially adding as a factor to the low turnout.”