Election Commission gets tough on biased opinion polls on Presidential Candidates

• Such social media posts will be classified as fake or hate information and debunked       
• Aggrieved parties can lodge complaints   

 By Kelum Bandara   

Various institutions which purportedly conduct opinion polls and surveys, and publish results in a manner adversarial to some candidates and advantageous to others will come under scrutiny by the Election Commission, an official said yesterday.   

The Commission has directed its division monitoring social media activities to keep a tab on such organizations and individuals conducting purported opinion polls.  

Its Chairman R. M. L.A. Rathnayake told Daily Mirror that he asked for a probe into such activities.   

“We will ascertain how such activities impact voters’ behaviour in respect of candidates in the fray. Once we identify such organizations, we will decide what action is to be taken,” he said.   

Additional Election Commissioner - Legal Chintaka Kularatne said such social media posts would be categorized as fake and hate information and debunked.   

He said his office would only act upon complaints.   

Asked about some institutions and universities conducting such polls, he said no formal complaint had been lodged with his office.   

“If we get any complaint, we will act upon it,” he said.