All candidates ordered to submit their campaign expenses by 13 Oct. 2024

All candidates who participated in the recently concluded presidential election must submit their campaign expense reports to the Election Commission by 13 October, Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Rathnayake announced on Wednesday (25).

Addressing the media in Colombo, Rathnayake said that all presidential candidates had been informed that their election campaign expense reports must be submitted within 21 days of the announcement of the election results.

Ratnayake that once all 38 candidates had submitted their expense reports, the documents would be made available for public viewing. Should any discrepancies be found in any candidate’s reports, complaints can be lodged with the police, provided they include proper evidence to support the allegations.

New campaign finance regulations set the maximum allowable campaign expenditure at Rs. 109 per voter for the presidential election 2024.

Under these new regulations, candidates were permitted to spend up to 60 percent of the total cap—equivalent to Rs. 1.12 billion—on their campaigns. For recognised political parties, the spending limit was set at 40 percent of the total, amounting to Rs. 740 million.