The Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) has filed a writ of mandamus application in the Court of Appeal (CA), seeking the provision and facilitation of a voting process for prison inmates (convicts and suspects in remand custody) in order for the latter group to exercise their sovereign franchise and universal suffrage.
The petition notes the absence of a proper voting mechanism within the prison system.
The respondents named in the petition filed in the public interest are the Election Commission (EC), the Minister and Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Prison Affairs, the Prisons Commissioner General and the Attorney General.
The petition notes that per the Constitution (Article 89), not all prisoners are disqualified from casting their vote at a Poll to elect the President or Parliamentarians, and from voting at a referendum. Per the said Article, only those who are “serving or has during seven years immediately preceding the completed serving of a sentence of imprisonment for a term not less than six months imposed for conviction for an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term not less than two years, or is under sentence of death, or is serving or has during the period of seven years immediately preceding the completed serving of a sentence of imprisonment for a term not less than six months awarded in lieu of the execution of such sentence” are thus disqualified from being an elector.
However, the proviso to the same Article provides for the said disqualification to cease in the event a person thus disqualified is granted a free pardon. Voting, it is hereby noted, is also a civic duty. Furthermore, Section 6 of the Presidential Election Act, No. 15 of 1981 disqualifies only those convicted of corrupt or illegal practices.
Regardless, the petitioner (a former prisoner W. Sudesh Nandimal Silva), claims that no mechanism or facility has been put in place by the EC to facilitate eligible prisoners to vote within prison premises or in remand custody, even by way of postal vote. Hence, the petitioner argues that the failure to issue guidelines to establish a mechanism to provide for the same is tantamount to an act of procedural impropriety that undermines electoral integrity as it disenfranchises a segment of the voting population, and also constitutes a violation of the legitimate expectation of eligible prisoners and their constitutional right to participate in the democratic process. This, the petitioner further notes, creates inequality, compromises electoral fairness, reduces transparency and introduces potential biases in the electoral outcomes. Such denial also amounts to a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression.
“The EC has neglected these rights for a long time. Moreover, since welfare facilities provided for prisoners including even the quality of the meals provided to them are subjected to variation per Government policies, it is important for prisoners to be able to participate in electing representatives who will be sensitive to their issues. Thus, the current inaccessibility to voting facilities further marginalises an already vulnerable group, which only perpetuates their social and political exclusion.”
Therefore, the petitioners pray for the establishment of a viable mechanism to ensure that all prisoners eligible to vote can exercise their right to do so.
As of May of this year, there are, per the Prisons Department, 19,867 remand prisoners or pre-trial detainees, accounting for 64.7% of the prison population.