By Chris Kamalendran
The number of voters in the Jaffna electoral district has dropped by more than 400,000 or by 50 percent of the previous figures, according to latest data collected by the Elections Department. Earlier the voter registry for the Jaffna district had 815,000 voters on the list, but the new one being compiled has only about 430,000 names.
“The numbers have gone down since tens of thousands of people have gone overseas or have been resettled in other parts of the country,” an official for the Jaffna Assistant Elections Commissioner’s office said.
He said that according to the latest statistics 90,000 new voters had been listed bringing the total number to 435,000. The number of voters in the Jaffna electoral district has been previously disputed by the government on the grounds that persons living overseas or persons who have died also have been included in the list.
The new list would not be used for the upcoming local council elections in the north and instead the 2009 list used, but if the provincial council elections for the north were held soon, the new list would be used, the official said.
ST
