My gut reaction is "Free and Fair Election" is impossible in Ceylon as it stands today.
We are barred from becoming counting officers.
Except visiting to vote in person, I have no way of probing the Inherent Deficiencies in the Existing System.
I have No Trust in the Independent Observor Organizations.
They have only a superficial knowledge of the way the election process works in Ceylon.
1. The Election is conducted by the Civil Service which is corrupt to the core.
The election officers (most of them have no prior experience to detect unlawful activities) are reshuffled to the advantage of the offenders.
Just getting a copy of a Birth Certificate is an uphill task without bribing somebody in the system.
The system has Unofficial Operating System from which one can get anything including a passport without visiting the office of concern.
Election Fraud occurs before, during and after the vote is counted.
Even in United State some officers by design can manipulate the system including absentee ballot.
1. I think just before the boxes are sealed, ballot boxes are stuffed in with the help of the subordinates of the standing officer using the leftover ballots.
In addition there is intimidation of the officers and police officers who take part in this process to avoid fraud.
Vulnerable stations are targeted by the contesting parties.
2. Ballot boxes can be changed and alternative boxes can sealed in mid air in transit.
This happened during Premadasa and Chandrika Regime, especially the ballot boxes transferred by helicopters from the North and the East.
3. I think most of the offences happen when officers retire after a brief counting session.
The reason is the delay of ballot boxes coming to counting center well past midnight.
I am of the belief counting should be done at the locality.
A different office nearby can be designated and exact report should be validated by the regional counting officer.
We could have used the provincial council election to design a full proof system in the presence of the representatives (polling agents) of the partys' concerned.
I have no belief in computers and digital systems.
There should be a process of counter signing the obtained result on paper locally.
Digitalization can happen once paper documentation is finished.
4. Recounting requests should be thoroughly scrutinized to avoid delay.
If the result is in the range of statistically narrow margin this should be allowed in the first instance but not otherwise.
Any delay is prone to manipulation efforts.
There should be no haste in declaring results.
5. Election Commission is understaffed and more and more officers should be trained both volunteers and commissioned.
6. These actions should be done well before the election is declared in the so called waiting period.
7. If Election Commissioner makes meaningful actions more people would believe in the system and come to vote.
One must remember, this is in a country where most popular game of cricket elections are violated left, right and center.
8. In my part I have no intention of voting and would stay away from Ceylon, in a foreign land where these mechanisms are well established and "in situ" and nobody questions the Final Result.
9. I have lost interest in preelection projections by various parties except the number who abstain and why do they abstain.
10. May be they have lost confidence in both the system and the parties.
