US Supports Modernizing Voter Registry : New Computerized Systems ‘Strengthens Electoral Process’
RAJAGIRIYA, February 7, 2007– Among the buildings destroyed by the tsunami was the office of the Elections Commission’s office in Galle, and with it the only copy of the voter registry for the entire district.
For the Elections Commission officials, the loss of the master list brought into sharp focus the need to upgrade and modernize the antiquated system throughout the country. Not only did they lack a duplicate copy of registries for the 10,000 polling districts across the country to rectify any inadvertent compromises of the rolls, the Commission made more than two million annual additions and deletions by hand, and updated the list of more than 13 million voters the same way.
In response to a request from the Commission, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided funding and technical assistance for a new computerized registry that will relieve staff of the arduous and time-consuming task of manually updating the voter list every year.
“This new registry is a significant step forward in strengthening the electoral process in Sri Lanka,” US Ambassador Robert Blake said at Elections Commission headquarters during an inaugural ceremony. “This technology provides the capacity to create a system of continuous updates to the registry: maintaining its accuracy; reducing the opportunity for electoral fraud, and ensuring that no voter is disenfranchised.”
Ambassador Blake said that under the leadership of Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake, the Department has distinguished itself as one of the most credible and efficient electoral bodies in the region. Still, for technology to be truly effective there must be accompanying policy and procedural reforms to ensure that an accurate voter registry is available at all times.
USAID Mission Director Rebecca Cohn said that the program is another strong example of collaboration between the U.S. and the Government of Sri Lanka, one in which all parties have a sense of ownership. USAID provided technical support through the International Foundation for Elections Systems.
“USAID will continue to assist Sri Lanka to meet the broader challenges of strengthening the electoral process and promoting electoral reform as mandated by the 17th Amendment to the Constitution,” Ms. Cohn said. “An accurate voter record is an integral component in the electoral process and this registry reflects Sri Lanka’s longstanding democratic traditions.”