Who are our lawmakers for next five years? People will decide today

-Voters can cast their ballots between 7.00 am and 4.00 pm today at their respective polling stations countywide

-Voters are required to furnish valid Identification documents such as NIC, Passport or Driving License for perusal by election authorities

By Huzefa Aliasger

Sri Lankans will vote for the election of MPs to the country’s tenth Parliament today, the first to be constituted after President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took office. The last parliamentary election was conducted in August, 2020 when the country was hit by the pandemic.

At this election, 196 MPs will be elected through direct votes and the remaining 29 to be nominated on the National List.

Voters can cast their ballots between 7.00 am and 4.00 pm today at their respective polling stations countywide.

According to the Election Commission, 5,464 of the candidates are in the fray representing registered political parties, and 3357 candidates representing independent groups, totalling 8821 candidates this election. The highest number of 19 MPs will be elected from the Gampaha District, and the lowest number of four members from the Trincomalee district.

Among the prominent candidates ar former opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya. None of the Rajapaksa brothers who dominated Sri Lankan politics for the last couple of decades are contesting this time.

The Election Commission requests voters to vacate the premises of polling stations without crowding nearby after voting. The total number of polling stations is 13, 314. Each voter is entitled to mark three preferences.

Voters are required to furnish valid Identification documents such as NIC, Passport or Driving License for perusal by election authorities . The ballot box inventory consists of 1,634,887 ballot boxes of different sizes and over 17 million voters will cast their ballots electing 225 members of parliament based on proportional representation. The Gampaha district holds the largest share of voters, with around 1.9 million registered.

Chairman of the Election Commission R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said the use of phones, or taking photographs, recording videos, Smoking, drinking alcohol, or entering the centers under the influence of alcohol or intoxicants are considered illegal and punishable offenses and voters should take caution of these offenses.

The Election Commission will be providing special facilities to disabled voters. It includes assistance for any voter who is totally blind or partially blind or subject to a disability, to accompany an assistant to the polling station for marking the ballot. The Election Commission will also be providing transport by a three-wheeler to physically disabled persons when the distance from the entrance of the polling station premises to the building where the polling station is located, is more than 100 meters or when the polling station is located in a hilly area with steps to climb. Display of notices in the polling station premises in sign language and live transmission of election results with sign language interpretations when results are announced will also be implemented.

Rohana Hettiarachchi, director of PAFFREL mentioned to the Daily Mirror that 5000 electoral observers will be deployed from which 3000 observers are to be stationed inside polling stations and 2000 observers will be on patrol outside the polling stations. A further 200 observers have been stationed for the counting process which starts after 4pm. 90,000 security personnel from the police and the military would be deployed island wide to provide security at the election as well as “there will also be mobile police patrols” the police spokesman Nihal Thalduwa said.

A total of 3187 complaints have been received by the Election Commission of which 22 complaints were considered acts of violence and 3,130 complaints were violence against the law. The Election Commission hopes to take action against the complaints.

The 2024 General Elections voting is underway and Sri Lanka sees a rise to the tenth Parliament. The Election Commission of Sri Lanka hopes to conduct a peaceful and fair election. “We request all voters to cast their ballots as this is an important and crucial election which determines the future of our country, as we know the economic crisis occurred due to the previous government, we hope to see a change.” Rohana Hettiarachchi, Executive Director of People’s Action for Free & Fair Elections (PAFFREL) mentioned.