PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF ELECTIONS FOR THE YEAR 2014 01. Introduction Enumeration of electors and certifying of the electoral register for the year 2014, conduct of elections to Western, Southern and Uva Provincial Councils, organization of preliminary activities of the Presidential Election which was scheduled to be held on 8th January 2015 and the filling of vacancies in the Parliament, Provincial Councils and Local Authorities were the activities performed by the Department of Elections during the year 2014. 02. Registration of Electors Act, No. 44 of 1980 2.1 Revision of Electoral Registers – 2013 2.1.1. Necessary steps were taken to publish a notice under the Section 12(1) of the Registration of Electors Act in the Government Gazette No. 1810/33 on 15.05.2013 and to publish the same notice in Sinhala, Tamil and English newspapers, on the same day, in regard to the commencement of the enumeration of electors for the year 2013. 2.1.2. Until the year 2013, house to house enumeration of electors commenced on 1st of June every year. But steps were taken to distribute enumeration forms to the chief occupants from 15th May 2013 after taking into consideration the provisions of the Registration of Electors Act and the decision to certify the register within the same year. But in terms of the Registration of Electors Act No. 44 of 1980, 1st of June in the relevant year was considered as the qualifying date as in the previous years. 2.1.3. In addition to all awareness programmes conducted in the 2012 enumeration through electronic and print media, additional steps were taken to make general public aware about enumeration of electors in relation to the revision of electoral registers for the year 2013. Commissioner of Elections declared 01st of June in every year as the “Voters’ Day” and took necessary steps to conduct various awareness programmes by the Elections Secretariat and at district level. 2.1.4. The Electoral Register was certified on 31.12.2013 in terms of Section 18 of the Registration of Electors Act, No. 44 of 1980 after taking into consideration the matters relating to multiple registrations and inquiries into claims / objections together with re-scrutinizing the names of all the electors with the enumeration forms (BC Forms). The notice under 1 Section 20 regarding the certification was published in the Gazette No. 1843/9 of 31.12.2013 and in newspapers. 2.1.5. The determination of the Commissioner of Elections in terms of Article 98(8) of the Constitution regarding the number of members to be elected for the year 2013 from each electoral district at a Parliamentary Election, based on the statements about the total no. of names in the electoral register, provided by the Registering Officer of each electoral district, under Section 23 of the Registration of Electors Act after certifying the Electoral Register in 2013, was published in the Gazette No. 1853/3 of 10th February 2014. Relevant details are shown in Table I. 2.1.6. Accordingly, the number of Members of Parliament for No. 11 – Vanni Electoral District and No. 19 – Badulla Electoral District were increased by one and the number of members for No. 08 - Matara Electoral District and No. - 15 Kurunegala Electoral District were decreased by one in the year 2013. Comparative Statement on the number of Members of Parliament to be elected for each electoral district (2005-2014) under the Article 98(8) of the Constitution is shown in Table II. 2.2 Revision of Electoral Registers – 2014 2.2.1. Necessary steps were taken to publish a notice under the Section 12(1) of the Registration of Electors Act in the Government Gazette No. 1862/12 on 16.05.2014 and to publish a notice in Sinhala, Tamil and English in the newspapers on the same day in regard to the commencement of the enumeration of electors for the year 2014. 2.2.2. Until the year 2013, house to house enumeration of electors commenced on 1st of June every year. But as in the year 2013, in the year 2014 also steps were taken in the year 2014, to commence the enumeration in the mid of May 2014. However, as in the previous years 1st of June in the relevant year was considered as the qualifying date to register as an elector under the Registration of Electors Act No. 44 of 1980. 2.2.3. Necessary instructions regarding enumeration of electors in all electoral districts were issued to District Registering Officers on 11.03.2014 and the Commissioner of Elections informed the Secretaries of all the recognized political parties on the same day regarding the revision and the procedure for appointing their representatives. 2.2.4. Besides general public awareness programmes carried out through electronic and print media, steps were taken during the revision of electoral register, 2014, as in the year 2013, to implement various programmes at district level based on the “Voters’ day” on 1st of June. The main function in relation to the voters’ day of the year 2013 was held in Colombo while centralizing the Colombo District. However, in the year 2 2014 revision also, action was taken to carry out main functions including walks, street dramas and various other programmes as in the year 2013, in Nuwara Eliya, Kilinochchi, Puttalam, Matara and Ampara districts, and to implement general public awareness programmes in all other districts in concurrence to it. The Commissioner of Elections attended to the main function held in Nuwara Eliya District in relation to the voters’ day and senior officers of the Elections Secretariat participated for the main functions held in Kilinochchi, Puttalam, Matara and Ampara Districts. District Registering Officers/ Government Agents and District Deputy/ Assistant Commissioners of Elections gave their maximum contribution to make the awareness programmes, held in all other districts including the afore mentioned districts, succeed. 2.2.5. More attention was paid as in the year 2013 to register the groups which acted as obstacles for the objective of inserting all qualified electors into the electoral register. Accordingly, instructions were given to all District Registering Officers/ Government Agents as well as to Deputy/ Assistant Commissioners of Elections to afford the priority to low income persons living in urban areas, people living in urban high rise apartments, people living in rented / lease houses, people migrating to urban areas in search of employment, Tamil speaking people who were serving in plantation industry and related jobs in Central, Uva and Sabaragamuwa Provinces and Colombo, Kalutara, Galle and Matara Districts, internally displaced persons living in other areas of the Island due to military operations and mentally sick persons who have been cured but continue to stay in Mental Hospitals due to non acceptance by their relatives. 2.2.6. Although certain complications in enumeration activities in the year 2014 was occurred due to the programme of Urban Development Authority to evict the slums in the Colombo District and replace them with flats, complications in relation to the registration of such persons could be solved according to the order given by the Court. On the agreement entered into by the residents of slums and the officers of the Urban Development Authority, the Court has ordered to insert the names of the slum dwellers to the electoral register although they were not reside at their residences, but until the day they would given homes at the same place where they lived. But confirmation of the registration of some slum dwellers could not be obtained due to the difficulties faced in obtaining new addresses of them and to the fact that slum dwellers in certain areas lived away from their homes after taking their compensation. Further, for the first time, names of 173 mentally sick persons who have been cured but continue to stay in the premises of the respective mental hospitals due to non acceptance by their relatives, were inserted to the electoral register. 2.2.7. In concurrence with the Voters’ Day, door to door collection of enumeration forms in areas of selected Municipal Councils/ Urban Councils was conducted on 02.06.2014 by the enumerators as well as the 3 officers of the Elections Secretariat. According to the observations of District Deputy/ Assistant Commissioners of Elections in this connection, BC forms could be accepted from the real residents and especially attempts to insert names fraudulently to admit children to popular schools could also be minimized. 2.2.8. Instructions were given to implement a special programme under the personal supervision of each District / Deputy / Assistant Commissioner of Elections as in the year 2013, for registration of Tamil speaking persons serving in the plantation industry and other related jobs and were until then not registered as electors due to various reasons viz. non confirmation of date of birth, problems in relation with the citizenship, staying away from homes due to their careers and uninteresting about the registration as an elector. This programme with the participation of Superintendants of Estates, Plantation Community Facilitators and Grama Niladharis in estate areas was helped to insert the names of most of persons in the estates to the electoral register. A special programme at the district level was also launched during the claim period to insert the names of electors in estate areas who were unable to insert their names at the primary enumeration. 2.2.9. House to house enumeration of electors was conducted in the Northern Province by enumerators except for a limited area in 29 polling districts in 04 polling divisions of No. 10 Jaffna Electoral District and one polling division in Mannar district which belongs to No.