533
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O.882/11
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO'
128
(2) Article 2 contains the interpretation of the term British Subject," which was recently communicated to this Government by the Secretary of State, and a definition of the term " commencement of the preparation of the register of voters.'
in the Schedule. The latter definition has relation to Articles 5 and 7 and to Form "C
(3) Article 3 determines the number of electoral districts in accordance with the implication of Articles 7 (1) of the Colonial Office draft. No constituency will haye more than one member.
(4) Article 4 combines the provisions of Articles 8, 23 (2) and 3 (3) of the Colonial
Office draft.
(5) Articles 5, 6, 7, and 8 deline the disqualifications and the qualifications of voters in accordance with the most recent directions of the Secretary of State, save that the disqualifications lettered (f) and (g), Article 21 of the Colonial Office draft, have been omitted. The first was omitted because in this Order, which provides only for first registration, no reference could have been made to an offence under the further Order, and it was not thought desirable under a new constitution and a new franchise to continue penalties awarded under the Order of 1923, even if any such are still in operation. This disqualification will be re-inserted in the further Order in Council.
Disqualification (g) in the Article 21 of the Colonial Office draft is of a different nature from the others, and the effect of it has been obtained by Articles 10 (2) and (3) and 13 of this draft.
In Article 7 (of Article 20A of the Colonial Office draft) a provision has been added corresponding to Article XXVII of the Order in Council of 1923 as amended by the Order in Council of 1924.
The qualifications for the vote have been so stated as to indicate that the certifi- cate of permanent settlement is a concession made to those who are unable to qualify by one of the two more general methods. In Article 8 provision has been made for the cancellation of a certificate of permanent settlement in accordance with para- graph 35 of the Governor's despatch of the 2nd June, 1929.* The reference to absence of twelve months as a ground of cancellation and to the authority to cancel at any time is the one particular. already mentioned, in which this draft goes beyond what is necessary for first registration, for it is obvious that this ground could not be present on first registration or until the further Order in Council, which will repeat the provision, comes into operation. The clause has, however, been inserted in this particular form lest the omission of these provisions should give rise to charges of breach of faith brought by those who expect them, and lest their subsequent insertion in the further Order in Council should give ground for complaint by those who might wish to object to them as something new.
(6) Articles 9 to 18 deal with the subject matter of Articles 23 to 34 of the Colonial Office draft in so far as the latter relate to first registration. Articles 22 and 24 of the Colonial Office draft will be incorporated in the further Order in Council. Article 25, while appropriate to existing conditions, will not be applicable to the registration of voters in the new electoral districts.
Article 9 of this draft is so drawn as to make it unnecessary to give in the Order in Council a date such as is contemplated in Article 26 of the Colonial Office draft. and the definition of "commencement of the preparation of the register of voters in Article 2 will incorporate the necessary date in other Articles where reference to it is required.
The other variations from the Colonial Office draft which are made in this part of the draft attached, or in the forms in the Schedule to it, are of a formal nature, and are only such as are required by the limited objects of the draft or by local circumstances.
(Sgd.) E. 8T. J. JACKSON,
Attorney-General.
129
(2) Registration of Voters.
C. 73230/12/30 [No. 4].
No. 75.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 20th October, 1930.)
(Confidential.)
MY LORD,
Queen's House, Colombo, 1st October, 1980. I HAVE the honour to enclose, for Your Lordship's information, a list showing the number of applications for registration as voters under the new franchise which were received up to midnight on 11th September, the time at which the period As Your Lord- prescribed for the acceptance of such applications came to an end. ship will observe, the percentage of forms rejected is small, registering officers having been instructed to treat irregularities with leniency and to disregard them when they were not of a nature to preclude a proper entry in the register, an ascertainment of the qualifications claimed, or the subsequent identification, at polling-time, of the person registered."
2. In this connexion I would invite Your Lordship's attention to the corre- spondence ending with Mr. Bourdillon's telegram No. 90 of 16th July,* on the subject of two resolutions passed in the Legislative Council on 10th July. An account of the debate which preceded the passing of these two resolutions will be found in the Hansard of that date (copy attached),† but the speeches of those who spoke in favour of the resolutions do not reveal the real motive which lay behind the desire to remove the restriction on the submission of more than one application for registration.
The fact is that a practice has grown up in Ceylon of doing a great deal of elec- tioneering during the registration period. The potential electorate is to a great extent apathetic, and even under the old franchise but a small proportion of those qualified would take the trouble to register their names, unless urged and assisted to do so by candidates or their agents. That, under the extended franchise, their apathy would be even more pronounced was obvious, and it was well known that intending candidates were determined to make great efforts to secure the registration of those whose votes they hoped to win. It has been the habit of candidates and their agents, while canvassing for applications for registration, to impress upon applicants that by sending in their applications through a certain candidate or his agent they are pledging them- selves to vote for that candidate. As the Legislative Council was in Session during the first part of the registration period, members of that Council feared that thei potential opponents would be first in the field, and they wished to have an opportunity of touring their constituencies and persuading persons who had already sent in applica- tions through the medium of their opponents to submit, through themselves, second applications, hoping at the same time to persuade them that the candidate for whom they were pledged to vote was the one through whom their most recent application had been submitted.
3. Although he was aware of the real motive underlying the first of the two resolutions, and of the increased risk of impersonation which would result from the submission of more than one application by the same person, the Officer Administering the Government considered that there was a real danger of wholesale suppression of applications, and he accordingly considered it wise to meet the wishes of the Legis- lative Council to the extent indicated in his telegram of 16th July. Incidentally, he hoped that this concession would put an end to an agitation for a considerable prolonga- tion of the registration period, an agitation which, at that time, threatened to assume serious proportions. The concession had the desired effect, and, except for a demand for a redistribution of registration areas, which is now being dealt with by registering officers in consultation with candidates and may cause some delay in the final prepara- tion of the register, very little dissatisfaction with the procedure adopted is now manifest.
4. Owing to the fact that many Ceylonese have the same, or very similar, names, the process of weeding out duplicate applications will be one of considerable difficulty. I am informed, however, that the first notice, which prohibited second applications, was not without effect, and that, in so far as has been at present ascertained, second or third applications were not submitted to any great extent except in Colombo itself
+ Not reprinted.
* No. 130.
*Cund. No. 3419.