HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF SRI LANKA, Annual Report 2019 Police. The Guidelines were also circulated widely for use by legal professionals, human rights defenders and members of the public. ▪ Interventions to ensure a free and fair election at the presidential election 2019 The Commission made several interventions to ensure that the Presidential election 2019 was a free and fair process that left no one behind: - On 23.10.2019 The Commission wrote to the Secretary, Ministry of Labor and Trade Union Relations, and the Chairperson of the Election Commission on granting paid leave to private sector employees to cast their vote, without having an impact on their leave balance. The Commission recommended that a public notice should be issued through newspapers etc. declaring that all private sector employees are granted a holiday to cast their vote, in order to ensure that the citizens sovereign right to vote is protected. The Commission copied this recommendation to the Election Commission. - The Commission wrote to the chairperson of the Election Commission providing recommendations to ensure that the presidential election of 2019 was a “Leave No Voter Behind” election. The Commission underscored the responsibility of the state to provide for special allowances to guarantee the right to vote of persons with disabilities or with special needs, persons who are geographically isolated, migrant workers, and Sri Lankan refugees in other countries, and remand prisoners. - On 15.10.2019 the Commission, having been made aware of incidents in the past where persons with authority at polling centers were reported to have unduly influenced the public that come to vote, wrote to the Chairperson of the Election Commission requesting him to select neutral public places instead of places that could be under the custody of certain ethnic or religious groups, such as places of religious worship. 37