EC wants dereliction of poll duty to be made an offence

The Elections Commission said it had proposed to include the dereliction of poll duty without valid reasons as an offence punishable under the Establishment Code.

EC Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya, flanked by Commission member Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole, told journalists on Wednesday that his office could only send a letter of warning to be included in the personal file of the official concerns under the present circumstances.

He said the letters of appointment for those Public Servants selected for election duty would be sent shortly.

Mr Deshapriya said it would be the duty of respective school Principals to hand over such letters to teachers selected for duty this time.

Polling of the General Election will be taken on August 5.

Postal voting has already been conducted.

However, the Commission has declared July 24 and 25 as extra days for postal voting for the benefit of those who could not cast their ballots on the last occasion.

He said there was a low turnout for postal voting on the last occasion.

“A lot of school teachers who applied for postal voting did not turn up because of the closure of schools. Besides, government workers still report to duty in batches on days designated for each. It is another reason for low turnout,” he said. (Kelum Bandara)