INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Commonwealth observers, working across various teams, have reported to their posts across all nine provinces in Sri Lanka, ahead of the
Northern, Northwestern, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva and Western and will be observing pre-poll arrangements in the run up to election
day.The teams will be present when voting begins at 7am, and will observe the process until the polls close at 4 pm
As is customary, they will then observe the counting of votes and the tabulation of results.Commonwealth Observer Group Chairperson, former
President of Seychelles, HE Danny Faure, who is following the process from Colombo, has also been observing pre-poll arrangements and has
scouted a number of polling stations to which he will return on election day
because Sri Lankans have been given the first opportunity to vote since the Aragalaya movement in 2022
they will choose among 38 presidential candidates, including the incumbent, Mr
The 38 presidential candidates represent the largest ever such pool in the history of the country.Sri Lanka is preparing for its
presidential election on September 21, with over 17 million citizens, including first-time voter Dilushi, set to participate
The election also coincides with International Peace Day, emphasising the importance of peaceful voting.Of the registered voters, more than
700 thousand Sri Lankans qualify for advance voting - referred to as postal voting, the purpose of which is to allow eligible voters who
cannot vote in person on election day to cast their ballots
The Commonwealth Observer Group support team, already on the ground in Colombo, witnessed the opening and closing of advance voting in the
run-up to election day.The President of Sri Lanka is elected using a preferential voting system, whereby voters can rank up to three
candidates in order of preference
If no candidate receives more than 50 per cent of the total valid votes in the first count, all candidates except the top two are
eliminated, and the candidate with the most overall votes in the second round of counting is then declared the winner.Following its
observations, the Commonwealth Observer Group will share its findings through a preliminary statement on 23 September, 2024, the statement
