Key Takeaways
- The Sri Lankan Election Commission has relaxed norms on voting closure for the presidential election, allowing all electorates who line up at polling booths by 4 pm to cast their votes.
- Voters who arrive at the polling booth after 4 pm will not be allowed to vote, unless they were in line before the officer at 4 pm.
- A record 17.1 million voters are eligible to elect Sri Lanka’s ninth leader from among an extraordinary 38 contenders.
Colombo: Sri Lankan Election Commission has decided not to stop polling in Saturday’s presidential election at 4 pm but allow all electorates who line up at polling booths by that time to cast their votes, media reports said, quoting the Commissioner General of Elections.
“Instead of closing polling at 4 pm, we have decided to allow all those who will line up at their respective polling booths to cast their votes,” Saman Sri Ratnayaka, the Commissioner General of Elections, told Economy Next.
“There could be situations where voters turn to their polling booth late because of work and some other issues, specially in plantation areas. So one polling booth officer will stand in the line at 4 pm, and all the voters who have lined up before the officer will be allowed to cast their votes.”
“However, people who arrive at the polling booth after 4 pm or who join the line behind the officer will not be allowed.”
A record 17.1 million voters are eligible to elect Sri Lanka’s ninth leader from among an extraordinary 38 contenders. The voting began at 7 am in 13,421 polling sites around the country.
