COLOMBO: Presidential election race gathered pace in Sri Lanka on Thursday, as around 39 candidates decided to take part in the polls. As per media reports, the candidates submitted their nomination papers to the country’s Election Commission by the deadline ahead of the vote on September 21. Here are the next key measures in the elections, in which 17 million people are eligible to elect their President
Campaign Rallies
Official campaign drives start following the election panel approves candidates, with inaugural protests worldwide. President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s election rally on Saturday in the city of Anuradhapura will be the first of around 100 he plans. His key political rivals are also likely to hold dozens of election rallies each.
Manifesto Announcements
In the coming weeks, the candidates are likely to publish their positions on efforts to chart Sri Lanka’s way out of its economic crisis. Other key policy matters will be corruption and improvement of living standards of the people in the country. By law and regulations candidates should wrap up campaigns 24 hours before election day.
Election Process
Sri Lanka’s first-past-the-post system permits voters to cast three preferential votes for their chosen candidates, with the candidate securing 50 percent of the votes or more declared winner.
If no candidate gets 50 percent of the votes in the first round there is a legal provision for a run-off to tally preferential votes for the two frontrunners, but that has not happened since the introduction of the voting system four decades ago.
Voting And Counting
Votes are cast in thousands of polling stations amid tight security measures, to be counted by government officials after polling ends, supervised by Election Commission officials, election monitors and representatives of candidates.
Declaration Of Results
The Election Commission of Sri Lanka will formally announce the winner, probably on September 22, who goes on take the presidential oath, usually on the same day, and appoint a new cabinet.
