A WEB

A-WEB World Election Database Survey 2024

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Questionnaire

(1)Member EMB Information

1. Country where your organization is located:  Sri Lanka

2. Name of your organization: Election Commission of Sri Lanka

3. Date of your organization’s establishment: 2015.11.13

4. Type of organization: Constitutionally independent organization

5. Composition of Commissioners (eg., Chairperson, two Vice Chairpersons, one Secretary General, nine Commissioners): Five members including the Chairman

6. Method of selecting the Chairperson:
□ Elected □ Appointed

7. Term of the Chairperson (Head) of your organization (please select one):

□ Until retirement age

□ Permanent with no limit

□ Fixed term (years) :  5 Years

- Reappointment possible: □ Yes □ No

8. Total number of staff (based on full-time employees at all levels of organization): 720

9. Primary roles and functions of the Organization (please select all that apply):

□ Election management

□ Voter registration

□ Delimitation of electoral districts

□ Management of political party affairs

□ Management of political funds affairs

□ Enactment and amendment of the Election Law

□ Voter education

□ Mediation of electoral disputes

□ Investigation and enforcement against election law violations

(2)World Election Database

Ⅰ. National System

1. Form of Government:

□ Presidential system

□ Parliamentary system

□ Semi-presidential system 

□ Other (please specify):

2. Term of the President (if applicable): (   5   ) years,

    2-1.Reappointment possible: □ Yes □ No

3. National Assembly:

□ Unicameral

□ Bicameral

4. If Unicameral:

    4-1. Term of Members of Parliament: (   5   ) years

    4-2. Limit on the number of reappointments: □ Yes □ No

    4-3. Number of seats in the Parliament: ( 225 )

5. If Bicameral:

     5-1. Term of Members of the Upper House: (       ) years

     5-2. Limit on the number of reappointments: □Yes □No

     5-3. Number of seats in the Upper House: (    )

     5-4. Term of Members of the Lower House: (       ) years

     5-5. Limit on the number of reappointments: □Yes □No

     5-6. Number of seats in the Lower House: (    )

Ⅱ. General Electoral System

6. Presidential Election: □ Direct □ Indirect

     6-1. Runoff voting system in the Presidential Election: □ Yes □ No 

7. Parliamentary Election:

      7-1. Upper House:

      □ Direct □ Indirect
      □ Majoritarian □Proportional □Mixed (Majoritarian_______ %, Proportional _______%) 

      7-2. Unicameral or Lower House:
      □ Direct □ Indirect
      □ Majoritarian □Proportional □Mixed (Majoritarian _______%, Proportional _______%)

Ⅲ. Recent Election Status

8. What was the most recent election held? (It can be the last election, no matter how long ago)

     8-1. Type of election:

              □ Presidential □ Parliamentary □ Local □Referendum □Others (please specify): ________________________

      8-2. Date of the most recent election held (if the exact date is unavailable, please provide the year):

             21 September 2024

*Please answer the following questions (9-13) based on the most recent election you mentioned above:

9. Number of polling stations:

    □ Domestic ___13,421_______ □ Overseas ______0________

10. Opening/Closing time of polling stations: _7am to 4pm

11. Number of registered voters: __17140354   

12. Voter turnout (%): 79.46%

13. Did your Organization run international election observation program?

      □ Yes □No □Other: ________________________

Ⅳ.Electoral System: Voting and Counting Procedures

14. Voting age: _______18________

15. Age of candidacy:

     15-1. President: _______35_________

     15-2. Member of Parliament: _______18_______

16. Is overseas voting allowed? □ Yes □ No

17. Please select all applicable methods for overseas voting:

      □ Mail □ Visit to Embassy/Consulate □ Other (please specify):

18. Is voting compulsory? □ Yes □ No

19. Please check all special voting methods available:

      □ Advance voting (early in-person voting)

      □ Postal voting
      □ Mobile booth voting
      □ Proxy voting
      □ Voting assistance for individuals with neurodevelopmental or  physical disabilities or senior citizens
      □ Other (please specify):

20. The primary status of the staff involved in voting and ballot counting:

      □ Civil Servants □ Civilians

21. Is biometric data (fingerprints, photo, signatures, etc.) used to verify voters on election day?

      □Yes □ No □ Other: ________________________

22. How is voting conducted? (please select all that apply):

      □ Manual (marking a paper ballot and placing it in the ballot box)

      □ Electronic- optical scanner

      □ Electronic- touch screen voting

      □ Electronic- internet voting

      □ Other: ________________________

23. How is the vote counting conducted? (please select all that apply):

      □ Manual □ Electronic □ Other

24. Where is the vote counting conducted? (please select all that apply):

      □ At each polling station □ At a central counting center

25. When does vote counting begin? (please select all that apply):

      □ Immediately after voting ends □The following day □ Other:

26. How long does it take from the election day to announce the results? Within twenty four hours

27. Is there a unified voter registry?

      □ Centralized national registry □Multiple regional registries

28. How often is the voter registry updated?

       □Monthly □Annually □Only before elections □ Other (please specify):

29. Does the voter need to personally register to vote?

       □Yes □ No

Ⅴ. Political Funds

30. Is there a system where the national or local government partially covers the election campaign costs 

      for candidates?    

      □ Yes (including conditional coverage) □ No

31. Does the national or local government provide subsidies (separate from campaign costs) for the           

      operation of political parties or elections?   

       □ Yes □ No

32. Is there a limit on election expenses?

     □ Yes □ No

33. Are the details of candidates' election expenditures posted online?

     □ Yes □ No

________ ↓ Previous Information ↓________​

○ Presidential Election​  

 - Term of office: 5 years

○​ Parliamentary Elections​

 · Parliamentary  

 - Seats: 225

 - Term of office: 5 years

 · Local government

 - Term of office (Provincial Council Elections​): 5 years

 - Term of office (Local Authority Elections​): 4 years ​​​

○​ Election system​

 · Number of polling stations: 13,421

 · Opening and closing time of polling stations

  -  7 am and 4 pm respectively​​

 · Number of registered voters: 17,140,354 (2024 election)

 · Voter turnout: 79.46% (2024 presidential election)

 · Voting age: 18   

 - Presidential: Under the contingent vote system, voters may rank up to three candidates. If no candidate wins a majority in the first round of counting, ballots whose first rankings are eliminated candidates are redistributed to the next-ranked candidates on those ballots. The winner is the candidate with the most votes after this second round of counting.

 - Parliamentary

   1. Open list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies.

   2. Parties must clear a threshold of one-eighth of votes to win seats in the respective constituency. 

   3. Each voter may cast three preference votes. 

   4. There are 22 multi-member constituencies containing 196 seats and one nationwide constituency with 29 seats

 · Voting process: Verify Identity Document -> Apply ink -> Receive Ballots -> Mark Ballots -> Cast Ballots​

 · Counting process​

   1. The results of postal votes will be announced first.  

   2. Count ballot papers in each ballot box and transfer them to a  trough.

   3. ​The ballot papers in the trough are put on the table and sorted according to the parties/groups.

   4. Marking the number of preferences obtained by each candidate on tally sheets/summary sheets and calculating the total number of preferences obtained by each candidate.​​