Govt. moves to remove indelible ink requirement at elections

The government has moved to remove the legal requirement for the use of indelible ink in elections conducted in Sri Lanka in future.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal submitted by the President in this regard.

Under existing election regulations, voters have been required since 2004 to verify their identity using a valid identification document and have their finger marked with indelible ink before casting their ballot. Both measures were introduced to prevent electoral fraud, including impersonation and multiple voting, according to a statement issued by the Department of Government Information.

However, the government has observed that maintaining both identity verification and indelible ink marking as safeguards for the same purpose has resulted in operational inefficiencies at polling stations and imposed significant additional costs on the state during elections.

In view of these concerns, the Cabinet has determined that the legal provisions relating to the use of indelible ink should be removed from the country’s election laws, while retaining voter identification requirements.

Accordingly, legal amendments will be introduced to repeal the relevant provisions in several election-related statutes, including the Presidential Elections Act, Parliamentary Elections Act, Provincial Councils Elections Act, Local Authorities Elections Ordinance and the Referendum Act.

The proposed amendments are expected to streamline election-day procedures and reduce administrative expenses associated with conducting elections, the statement added further.