The Election Commission said that the Returning Officers have been informed to provide necessary facilities for postal voters to cast their votes today (4) and tomorrow (5) at their relevant work places for the 2024 Presidential Election as the postal voting commences from today.
Since the officers have to be deployed to provide security and supervision at the postal voting polling stations, the marking of postal votes in all District Secretariats and Election offices will be held on September 4 and all Police Special Task Force (STF) camps, Police offices and Police Stations on September 4 and 6, the Election Commission announced.
Any postal voters who couldn’t cast their votes due to unavoidable reasons on the specified dates have been provided facilities to cast their votes on September 11 and 12 from 9 am to 4 pm at the District Secretariat’s office or the District Election office of the district where the office of the relevant Returning Officer’s office is situated.
Meanwhile, permission has been granted to appoint two representatives per Presidential candidate, one observer each from the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) and the Center for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) to monitor the marking of postal votes at each Returning Officer’s polling center. No one employed in the office of the relevant Returning Officer or anyone representing a monitoring organisation can engage in monitoring activities at the postal voting polling center of that institution. Only those who have been accepted as postal voters are permitted to enter a postal voting polling center.
Photographing and video recording of postal ballot markings, postal voting polling stations and surroundings is prohibited. Also, the offenses mentioned in the Election Law states that the candidature of a presidential candidate should not be displayed in the premises of a postal voting polling center, nor should leaflets be distributed to promote any candidate and also soliciting votes or inducing a voter not to vote for a candidate at any polling center is a punishable offense. The Election Commission said that it is also a punishable offense to attempt to take a marked ballot paper or an unmarked ballot paper out of the polling station.
Photographing or video recording a marked or unmarked ballot paper or displaying such photographs through any media including social media is strictly prohibited, and even attempts to do so will be treated as a violation of the Election Commission’s directives.
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