Temporary pass for voting

The Election Commission has decided to issue a temporary pass for about three hundred thousand voters who had applied but not yet received their national identity cards.

An official from the Election Commission said that a temporary pass would be issued in collaboration with the Department of Registration of Persons and Grama Niladharis of the respective divisions.

This temporary pass would be issued only for voting at the upcoming presidential election and the passes should be handed over on the day of voting itself, the EC said. It was reported that the Department of Registration of Persons had failed to issue identity cards for about three hundred thousand applicants owing to a shortage in paper sheets used in processing identity cards.

The Department said that it would be impossible to issue identity cards immediately since paper sheets were to be imported from Malaysia which cost around Rs. 1 million. (Sujith Hewajulige)