General Election 2000

Interim Report on Election-Related Violence

By the close of voting on election day, CMEV had received reports of serious election violations, including instances of murder, bombing, stuffing of ballot boxes, removal of ballot boxes, systematic impersonation and ballot rigging, threats and intimidation of both polling agents and voters, and the use of firearms including automatic weapons, as well as the misuse of state resources including military vehicles and personnel, from 365 polling centres in 73 electorates. This constitutes approximately 10% of the reports received from CMEV monitors and observers by 9.30 pm on October 10, 2000.

It is CMEV's considered assessment that taken as a whole the 2000 General Election was significantly marred by violence and election-related violations. In addition, the ongoing offensive in the Jaffna peninsula, as well as the de facto deprivation of voting rights to approximately 250,000 Tamil voters in so-called uncleared areas in the North-East Province has resulted in the election being a charade in this province. In the rest of the country, 35 of CMEV's monitors and observers were threatened and intimidated by supporters of the People's Alliance.

The incidents reported on election day include 07 murders, which brings the total number of deaths during the election period to 71. It is important to note that CMEV's analysis of individual polling centres is based on an assessment of events during the entire polling period, and generally involves a series of incidents. This election day assessment is based on an evaluation of polling centres and not on the number of incidents recorded, since the effects of these incidents need to be measured in terms of the degree to which they permitted an unfettered exercise of the public franchise.

The nature and extent of violations have been so widespread and serious in the following electorates as to render the final outcome in these areas meaningless. In addition, the level and degree of violence in these areas during the campaign period too was higher than in other parts of the country. CMEV, therefore, urges the Commissioner of Elections, by virtue of the powers vested in him by Sections 48 A, 128 and 129, of the Parliamentary Elections Act No 1 of 1981 to annul the voting in these electoral divisions, in order to restore credibility to the electoral process in other regions of the country.

As at 2.30 pm on election day, CMEV has received reports of serious election violations, including instances of murder, bombing, stuffing of ballot boxes, removal of ballot boxes, systematic impersonation and ballot rigging, threats and intimidation of both polling agents and voters, and the use of firearms including automatic weapons, as well as the misuse of state resources including military vehicles and personnel, from 210 polling centres in 57 electorates.

Of these, the nature and extent of violations have been so widespread and serious in the following electorates as to render the final outcome in these areas utterly meaningless. CMEV, therefore, urges the Commissioner of Elections to annul the voting in these electoral divisions even before the poll is closed, in order to minimize the violence in these areas as well as to restore credibility to the electoral process in other regions of the country.

CMEV was formed in 1997 by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), the Free Media Movement (FMM) and the Coalition Against Political Violence as an independent and non- partisan organisation to monitor the incidence of election-related violence.

Dr. P. Saravanamuttu CMEV

Bandula Padmakumara CMEV

Dr. Arjuna Parakrama CMEV