Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2017-11-21

Enacting legislation to provide for the preparation of a supplementary Register of Electors enabling the youth to exercise their franchise

- In terms of the provisions of the Registration of Electors Act, No.44 of 1980 all citizens who attain 18 years of age as at 1st of June every year are registered as electors. For this purpose the Electoral Register is revised annually and it takes about 6 months to complete the process. In case an election is held after the commencement of the revision of the Electoral Register on the 1st of June in any year but prior to the certification of the same, the Electoral Register of the previous year will be made applicable and the electors who have completed 18 years of age and eligible to be registered in the new Electoral Register will be deprived of the opportunity of exercising their voting rights.

As such, the Election Commission has proposed that it is appropriate to prepare a supplementary electoral list to provide and opportunity to excise their vote by including the names of those who will attain age of 18 years during the period subsequent to the certification of the electoral list and until the commencement of the revision of the electoral list of the following year, in the electoral list which has by then been certified, without any delay. Accordingly, the proposal made by H.E. the President Maithripala Sirisena, to instruct the Legal Draftsman to make provision for this purpose by amending the Registration of Electors Act, No.44 of 1980, was approved by the Cabinet.