CaFFE to aid Uva voters without identification documents
August 17, 2014 4:
Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) will commence a series of free mobile clinics to facilitate National Identity Cards and Special Identification Documents issued by the Department of Elections to the 40 350 eligible voters in Badulla district without identity cards. The initiative is held targeting the September 20 Uva provincial council election centering on Welimada, Bandarawela and Uva – Paranagama DS divisions between August 19 and 23.
First mobile clinic will be held on August 19 at Uva Paranagama and Welimada.Meanwhile clinics will be held at Ella on August 20, Bandarawela on August 21 and 22 and Haputale on August 23. In pre election surveys CaFFE has identified that a significant number of people in Uva did not have valid identity cards needed to cast their vote. This situation can specially be seen among the most vulnerable communities, i.e. Indian origin plantation sector workers in Badulla district, those living in border villages and the communities in four of the 10 most poor divisional secretariat areas in Sri Lanka.
Valid identification documents are a must to vote in Sri Lankan elections and a large number of people, often from the poorest social segments, are not able to vote. CaFFE has conducted similar clinics during previous provincial council elections which had a positive impact in the voting patterns. For example CaFFE and its sister organization Center for Human Rights and Research (CHR) facilitated over 35 000 national identity cards in the Northern Province prior to the September 2013 provincial council election and this was a main contributing factor to the increased voter turnout in the Northern election.
This is a joint initiative by CaFFE, CHR, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Department for Registration of Persons.
August 17, 2014 4:Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) will commence a series of free mobile clinics to facilitate National Identity Cards and Special Identification Documents issued by the Department of Elections to the 40 350 eligible voters in Badulla district without identity cards. The initiative is held targeting the September 20 Uva provincial council election centering on Welimada, Bandarawela and Uva – Paranagama DS divisions between August 19 and 23.
First mobile clinic will be held on August 19 at Uva Paranagama and Welimada.Meanwhile clinics will be held at Ella on August 20, Bandarawela on August 21 and 22 and Haputale on August 23. In pre election surveys CaFFE has identified that a significant number of people in Uva did not have valid identity cards needed to cast their vote. This situation can specially be seen among the most vulnerable communities, i.e. Indian origin plantation sector workers in Badulla district, those living in border villages and the communities in four of the 10 most poor divisional secretariat areas in Sri Lanka.
Valid identification documents are a must to vote in Sri Lankan elections and a large number of people, often from the poorest social segments, are not able to vote. CaFFE has conducted similar clinics during previous provincial council elections which had a positive impact in the voting patterns. For example CaFFE and its sister organization Center for Human Rights and Research (CHR) facilitated over 35 000 national identity cards in the Northern Province prior to the September 2013 provincial council election and this was a main contributing factor to the increased voter turnout in the Northern election.
This is a joint initiative by CaFFE, CHR, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Department for Registration of Persons.
