The Elections Commissioner says a survey will reflect the actual number of eligible voters, whereas the current electoral register is outdated. The actual number of voters was very much lower than the figures mentioned in the electoral register, he said, and called on the parliament to take a decision on this.

The Election Secretariat used the 1988 electoral register due to a decision taken by Parliament, though the actual number of voters living in the Northern region had sharply decreased due to LTTE terrorism.

Addressing the media at the Elections Secretariat on Wednesday (Feb 3), Dissanayake stressed that his officers and Chief Returning officers should not be held responsible for any discrepancy in the electoral register and the actual voters living in the region, reported the Island.

He further stated that many who had fled the country were located in foreign countries, including India. He said that India had provided the necessary data of people living there to enable him to remove people living in India from the electoral register. A sizeable section of the Tamil-speaking population also lived in the South, particularly in the Western Province.

In addition, many have migrated to Western countries and their names have not been removed. No information is available on them.

According to final results of the Jaffna District at the recently concluded presidential poll, only 185,132 had exercised their franchise, though the registered number of voters was 721,359. The Jaffna electoral district comprises, Kayts, Vaddukkodai, Kankesanthurai, Kopay, Uddupiddy, Point Pedro, Chavakachcheri, Nallur, Jaffna and Kilinochchi electorates.

During the first post-presidential election media briefing called by the government, UPFA General Secretary Minister Susil Premjayantha, too, discussed the need to conduct a census. Rejecting claims that voting in the Jaffna peninsula had been extremely low, the Minister said that the outdated electoral register did not reflect the actual ground situation.

The Island reports that even in the Vanni electorate, which comprises Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu, the electoral register did not reflect the actual situation.

Census and Statistics Director H. R. Gunasekera yesterday told The Island that they would conduct a countrywide census in mid-2011.

He said that the last countrywide census was carried out in 1981 before the outbreak of Eelam war. Independent analysts say that almost half of the 1981 registered voters in the North are no longer living in that area.

Gunasekera added that they had gone ahead with a census in 2001, though it covered only 18 administrative districts, including Ampara.

"We covered only parts of remaining Northern and Eastern districts due to some areas being held by the LTTE at that time. But today, we are in a position to carry out a countrywide census thanks to the elimination of terrorism," he said adding that they were at the initial stages of planning.