by Namini Wijedasa
Elections officials in some parts of the country were working overtime yesterday to find replacements for senior presiding officers (SPOs) who did not turn up for duty, elections sources said.

Anuradhapura was the worst affected with at least 60 SPOs out of 402 absconding, officials in the district said. By afternoon, area elections authorities had managed to bring this number down to 25 but were struggling after exhausting those who had been on their reserve SPO list. As a result, the despatchment of ballot boxes to some stations was greatly delayed.

"Perhaps it’s some sort of protest or display of defiance, I don’t know," said one senior official. "Anyhow, so many have not kept away before this." Many had reported sick. Last year, only about eight kept away.

The Anuradhapura official said that the high incidence of absentees may also be due to fear of possible violence. Anuradhapura reported the second highest number of polls-related incidents totalling 184. There were two killings and troops have been deployed to support the police.

In Badulla, 21 out of 462 SPOs hadn’t reported but an election official said that they were able to fill the vacancies from their reserve list. Vavuniya also had some absentees.

District assistant commissioners explained that there is usually allowance for some absentees as there was always a few officials who keep away.

"But it is very irresponsible of them because it affects our work when they decide to keep away in the last minute," said a Vavuniya official. In areas of the north and east, it was usually the security threat which caused non-attendance, he said.

SPOs are usually senior officials in government service and are given charge of all aspects of the polling station. Yesterday, SPOs accompanied ballot boxes to the respective polling stations in all districts of the country.