By Rathindra Kuruwita

Expenditure incurred by the Elections Commission increases exponentially if the length of the ballot paper exceeds 27 inches, Saman Sri Rathnayake, Commissioner General of Elections has said.

“In 1982, there were only six candidates. The ballot paper was about five inches. We could stuff about 900 ballot papers into one ballot box. In 2019, there were 35 candidates and the ballot paper was about 26 inches long. Let’s assume the number of voters didn’t change in a polling centre. We have to send three ballot boxes now to a place we sent one in 1982. We can send one ballot box with the SPO and a policeman in a cab. When we have to transport three ballot boxes, we need to hire vans. Imagine the increase in cost for transporting ballot boxes alone,” he told The Island.

Rathnayake added that each candidate was allowed to send one letter to each household, free of charge. There are 6.5 million households.

“At the polling centre, each candidate can have two people as agents. Where will we house these people? We need to find larger rooms,” he said.

About 83% of electors had cast their vote in 2019, Ratnayake said, adding that going by that percentage, in 2024 about 14.4 million people were likely to vote. There are 17 million eligible voters. Rathnayake said that the 2015 presidential election cost the taxpayer 2.7 billion rupees, in 2019 the expenditure went up to 4.4 billion rupees and in terms of the latest estimates, the government has already allocated 10 billion rupees.

Ratnanayake also said the Campaign Finance Act was in force and election monitors are paying close attention to the money spent by candidates on their campaigns.

“According to election laws, a candidate can’t take money from another government and use that money for campaigning. You also can’t take money from multinational companies or international voluntary organisations. Candidates also have to reveal the sources of their finances,” he said.

The nomination board of the Elections Commission could only consider objections in respect of the candidates who had violated the Presidential Elections Act, Ratnayake said.

Ratnayake said that the nomination committee did not have adequate time to investigate allegations against a candidate. The committee on the presidential elections comprises the five members of the Elections Commission.

“The board usually has a few hours to verify everything. They only look at a few things, i.e., whether the candidate has signed the nomination papers, whether the party has signed, whether a JP has certified details of a candidate, etc.,” he said.

Those on the nomination boards could not even independently verify the signatures of candidates, Ratnayake said. Those on the nominations board had to accept the signature certified by the General Secretaries of political parties. “Even if another party raises objections, by claiming that a candidate is a citizen of another country, there is nothing we can do. How could we determine this? Only courts can look into such claims,” he said.

When questioned about the weekly Cabinet press conference and events held at the Presidential Media Centre, the Commissioner General of Elections said the commission had no authority to prevent them.

“Sometimes, ministers speak about salary increases and various other concessions that will be given to people next year. However, as government servants, we know that ministries and departments have not even sent estimates and proposals for the 2025 budget. So, the media must cover such events critically and make people aware of the true situation.”

Ratnayake said the presidential candidates are required to submit their expenditure reports within 21 days after the conclusion of the election. The Election Commission made them public within 10 days, after which the public could lodge complaints.

The Elections Commission was also ready to hold a parliamentary election in 2024 if the person who secured the presidency dissolved parliament immediately afterwards. “According to the Constitution, the President can dissolve Parliament two and half years after its election. The Constitution also says that the necessary funding should be provided for the elections commission from the consolidated fund. We are also bound to hold the parliamentary election within 66 days after the dissolution of Parliament.

Ratnayake said Sri Lanka had held seven presidential elections, and elections officials had always been ready to count the preferential votes if necessary. If a candidate could not obtain 50 percent and one vote, the preferential votes had to be counted. “When we count the votes, we count the preferential votes. Many people think that we start counting second or third preferential votes only if one can’t get a majority. That’s not the case. We count them in one go. We have already estimated the number of officials and vehicles we want for election duties,” he said.