Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa has suggested that voting at future elections in Sri Lanka should be made compulsory. Admitting that his suggestion was revolutionary and had its pros and cons, but hoped it would become a reality.

He has also suggested that elections be held within a fixed term like in the USA and the necessary funding provided on time.

The leader of the opposition made these suggestions while speaking at a ceremony organised by the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) held last Monday [10] to felicitate outgoing Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Rathnayake.

Complimenting the Election Commission which was named the Best Electoral Commission in the World at a ceremony hosted by the Independent Electoral Commission of Botswana and the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS) a few weeks ago, Premadasa said that ECSL could be described as a center of excellence in the modern democratic world.

Compulsory voting, also known as universal civic duty voting or mandatory voting. Australia was the first country to introduce it for a national election. As of January 2023, 21 countries have compulsory voting laws. Compulsory voting results in a higher degree of political legitimacy based on higher voter turnout and a more representative electorate.

Manjula Gajanayake, Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies [IRES] said that introducing compulsory voting had been discussed before but it was the first time that a member of parliament suggested it at an open forum.

Welcoming the suggestion, Gajanayake said that as there was no provision for advance voting or absentee voting in Sri Lanka a considerable number of registered voters abstained from voting. He said that at the 2024 Parliamentary poll, 5,325,008 voters (31.07% of the 17,140,354 registered voters did not exercise their franchise compared to the 2020 Parliamentary poll at which 23.11% of the 16,283,885 registered voters did not vote.

At the 2024 Presidential poll 3,520,338 voters [20.54% of the 17,140,554 voters] did not vote. Gajanayake said that as a single vote could change the outcome of an election the opposition leader’s suggestion should be acknowledged positively.

Executive Director of the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections [CaFFE] Manas Makeen who was in the audience hailed the opposition leader for his bold suggestion. He pointed out that the Election Commission as well as election monitoring missions including CaFFE have continuously campaigned to encourage voters to exercise their franchise and added that when a high percentage of registered voters do not exercise their franchise, one cannot expect a proper democratic representation in the elected body.

The audience at Monday’s event comprised Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development and Leader of the House Bimal Rathnayake, former speaker Karu Jayasuriya, past and present members of parliament, secretaries of political parties, heads of election monitoring missions and non-government organisations, past and present commissioners of the Election Commission and well-wishers.

Text and picture by PRIYAN DE SILVA ✍️