Elections monitor, photo by Perambara

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Rigging elections is actually fairly difficult in Sri Lanka. There are monitors from all parties at all polling booths and the elections commission is somewhat independent. The main method of influencing elections is intimidation, and that’s what’s going on. Polling monitors didn’t arrive in Batticaloa, people were kept from the polls in Gampola, etc. The most notable incident was the explosions in Jaffna, a report of which follows below.

I’m sitting in the UNP office where they’re getting reports from monitors in the field. That has, of course, its own bias, so take it for what it is. This is the report from MP Suresh Premachandran in Jaffna, faxed to the elections commissioner.

Loud explosion in Nallur/Tinnevely area at 3:30 am

Four rounds of artillery fired and heard in Jaffna town after

MP Premachandran”s Office stoned and damaged (yesterday)

Atchuvely area: damaging of van by masked persons in black (yesterday)

source: Election Monitoring Unit, NEW DEMOCRATIC FRONT. Fax sent to Elections Commissioner

First indications are that interested parties are causing explosions to frighten the voters from going to their polling stations at today’s Presidential Election.

Posted on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 in election, out, Politics.