By Rathindra Kuruwita

Six hundred and two out of 607 police stations in the country are engaged in election duties, acting police media spokesman, DIG Ruwan Gunasekera said yesterday.

“We have police stations in places like the Uda Maluwa, which have special tasks,” he said.

There are 45 police divisions. “We have established election monitoring centres in these 45 divisions and the 602 police stations. This was done as soon as the election was declared,” he said.

Gunasekera said these monitoring centres are entrusted with investigating election-related complaints. There are several grades of police stations in the country and based on the grade, the number of officers attached to a monitoring centre changes, he said.

“Roughly, five policemen are attached to each monitoring centre. There are 13,314 polling stations for the 21 September presidential election. Each polling booth requires at least two police officers. So on 20 and 21 September, we need about 27,000 policemen for polling booths alone. Altogether we need about 55,000 policemen for election duties,” he said.

Gunasekera said there are 39 presidential candidates, and all of them are given police protection. As soon as the election was declared, a committee was established to determine the level of security threat posed by each candidate and former presidents, he said. The committee is headed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security.

“Among candidates there are people who already receive police security, for example MPs. After nominations are signed, we assign a police detail to all candidates. We then conduct a threat assessment and if we feel some candidates need additional security, we will provide additional security. A representative for each candidate is in touch with the above-mentioned committee. If a candidate is holding a meeting somewhere in the country, that representative can inform the committee. The committee will inform senior policemen in that area, and they will provide necessary security. By the fourth week of August, we have provided security to 34 rallies,” he said.

Gunasekera added the police are now flooded with requests to use public announcement systems during political meetings. These licenses are given based on several criteria, he said. “You need a letter from the owner of the public address systems, a letter from the owner of the land in which a meeting is held. Also, these public announcement systems can only be loud enough for the people in a demarcated area.

The public announcement systems can be used only till 10 pm from Monday to Thursday, until 1 am on Friday and Saturday and until midnight on Sunday. We also do not authorize meetings in government owned lands or near offices or rallies of other political parties,” he said.

The police spokesman added that thousands of election offices are springing up across the country. Section 73 of the Presidential Elections Act No 15 of 1981 sets the guidelines on election offices, he said. There are 22 electoral districts in the country, and one office can be maintained in each district, he said. These are called notified central election offices. “You can also have a branch election office in each polling district. A polling district is an area where a polling booth is held. The residence of a candidate can also be an election office,” he said.

Gunasekera said that posters, banners and cut-outs are allowed only if they fulfil specific criteria. For example, these can be displayed on the motor vehicle that the candidate travels in. These can also be displayed within the premises of election offices. “You can also display posters, banners and cut-outs in the area where an election meeting is held,” he added.