Prisoners’ rights groups are seeking to meet President Anura Kumara Dissanayake over the lack of voting rights for prisoners in the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.
“Prisoners were unable to cast their vote during the Presidential as well as the Parliamentary General Elections despite us raising concerns,” Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) President attorney Senaka Perera, told The Daily Morning yesterday (18). “We hoped that eligible prisoners would be able to cast their vote during this Election; however, they were unable to do so. So, we are planning to meet with the President in order to resolve this.”
In September, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka gave instructions to take necessary steps to guarantee voter rights. However, Perera noted that prisoners were not guaranteed voting rights in the Parliamentary Election held this month ( November).
A writ application was filed in this regard by prison rights groups at the Court of Appeal. The petition is to be taken up in March of next year (2025).
It was reported that the Department of Prisons stated that without a court order or a specific directive from an institution such as the Election Commission (EC), no prisoners will be allowed to vote. Meanwhile, the EC stated that proposals of advanced voting for prisoners were made; yet these proposals were not passed in the Parliament.
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