Elections in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka will hold local government authority elections on May 6, 2025. Voters will elect members to 339 of the country’s 341 local government authorities.

Local government authorities (LGAs) provide services such as sanitation, public health, and public utilities, making their roles integral to local communities. Sri Lanka has not held LGA elections since 2018, when representatives were elected to four-year terms. The 2022 elections were postponed due in part to political unrest and instability following the economic crisis and Aragalaya protests. In 2023, they were delayed indefinitely when the government did not make funding available to hold the elections. LGAs have operated without elected representatives since March 2023, when the previous representatives’ terms expired. 

In August 2024, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ruled that the indefinite delay of LGA elections violated the rights of voters. It ordered the Election Commission of Sri Lanka to hold elections as soon as possible or to be held in contempt of court. The upcoming LGA elections follow two successfully run national elections in 2024 (presidential in September and parliamentary in November).

The 341 local government authorities comprise 29 municipal councils, 36 urban councils, and 276 pradeshiya sabhas (divisional councils), the latter of which cover rural areas in the country.

Sri Lanka’s local government authority elections will follow a mixed-member proportional representation system, as outlined in the Local Authorities Election (Amendment) Acts No. 22 of 2012, No. 1 of 2016, and No. 16 of 2017. Sixty percent of seats are allocated through a first-past-the-post system, and 40 percent are determined using a proportional representation system. There are two categories of electoral districts for the first-past-the-post seats: single-member and multi-member wards. Parties use lists for the proportional representation seats, allocating them based on the proportion of votes they receive. This system aims to balance representation by offsetting any disproportionality resulting from the first-past-the-post outcomes.

For the 60 percent of seats that are elected through the first-past-the-post system, each local authority is divided into multiple wards. The voters in each ward will select a party, rather than a candidate, on their ballots. In a single-member ward, the party or independent candidate who receives the most votes is declared the winner. In a multi-member ward, two or three candidates from the party or independent group that receive the most votes will be declared winners. 

Once the ward results are finalized, the remaining 40 percent of seats are filled through a proportional representation system, whereby the votes received across the entire local authority area are considered. Each party is allocated a certain number of seats in proportion to the overall number of votes it receives. These seats are filled using an additional nomination list that each party submits before the election. 

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka (ECSL) is an independent body that oversees the conduct of presidential, parliamentary, provincial, and local elections, as well as referenda, in the country. The ECSL is mandated by Article 104B of the Constitution. It has the power to ensure the elections are free and fair. The president appoints the five members of the Election Commission, as recommended by the Constitutional Council. The current ECSL was appointed between July 2023 and January 2024. 

The commissioner general of elections is the head of the Elections Secretariat. The commissioner general, with ECSL staff, is responsible for the administration of elections. The secretariat, consisting of six divisions, manages operations throughout ECSL’s 25 district offices. The duties of the secretariat include registering voters, managing electoral rolls, ensuring compliance with election laws, and handling logistics on Election Day. The secretariat operates from the ECSL headquarters in Rajagiriya, Colombo. 

In addition to its mandate to oversee elections, the ECSL prepares and revises the electoral register, secures the enforcement of electoral laws, regulates the use of state resources during elections, provides guidelines for print and electronic media on election reporting, and regulates campaign expenditures in accordance with the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act No. 3 of 2023. The commission is answerable to Parliament. 

It is the duty of the ECSL to ensure that all citizens exercise their franchise in secret and without intimidation, conduct voter education, and create a level playing field for all candidates.

The nomination period for the 2025 local government authority elections was from March 17 to 20. Candidates representing political parties are required to pay a deposit of LKR 1,500 each, and those running independently are required to pay LKR 5,000. The campaign timeline is approximately six weeks. 

The Local Authorities (Amendment) Act No. 1 of 2016 and No. 16 of 2017 mandate a 25 percent quota for women’s representation within local government authorities (LGAs). Although the quota has been implemented in only one election, in 2018, it saw the increase of women’s representation from two percent to more than 22 percent. Political parties and independent groups must submit two separate candidate lists: one for ward-level contests, which must include at least 10 percent women, and another, called the Additional Persons List, which requires 50 percent female representation. On Election Day, voters cast their ballots for a party or group, and the party or group that receives the highest number of votes in each ward wins the seat for their candidates. 

Each party’s seat entitlement is based on the total number of votes it receives, divided by the number of seats in the LGA. If a party wins fewer wards than seats, it can appoint members from its losing candidates or additional list. To meet the 25 percent women’s quota, the women elected at the ward level are counted first. If a party has more elected members from ward seats than are allocated in proportion to their total share of votes in the district (an overhang), and none are women, female representation is ensured through other parties’ proportional seats. Parties that receive under 20 percent of votes and fewer than three seats are not required to appoint women from their additional lists. Furthermore, any fraction is ignored during the count, and only full numbers is used for seat allocations. For those reasons, the quota of 25 percent for women was not met in 2018.

The Local Authorities (Amendment) Act No. 16 of 2017 outlines a 30 percent youth quota. However, this quota applies only to nominations rather than represented seats. As such, it is not mandatory or enforced and therefore, in practical terms, is not in effect. 

The maximum candidate spending limit varies by ward, from LKR 74 to LKR 160 per voter. This election marks the third since the passage of Sri Lanka’s 2023 campaign finance legislation, the Regulation of Election Expenditures Act (REEA). The previous presidential and parliamentary elections saw challenges in enforcing the REEA, as no resources were provided to the Election Commission to monitor or scrutinize campaign expenditure. Furthermore, the law is not clear on the powers of the Election Commission to enforce limits. There are no donation limits in Sri Lanka, but the sources of donations must be disclosed. 

Eligibility to vote in Sri Lanka is governed by Articles 88 and 89 of the Constitution. Any citizen of Sri Lanka who is 18 years of age or older and correctly registered in the electoral register is eligible to vote. Citizens are disqualified from voting if they were found to be of “unsound mind” under Sri Lankan law or have been convicted of corruption or illegal practices related to elections.

The Sri Lankan legal framework still uses the term “unsound mind,” which is considered a disqualification to legal citizenship. The concept of unsound mind applies in both criminal and civil procedures in Sri Lanka as an exemption for legal responsibility. Sri Lanka has not updated the relevant legal provisions, although they contravene the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Sri Lanka ratified in 2016.

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka maintains a continuous voter list that it updates every four months, adding voters who turn 18 years of age. An annual door-to-door manual enumeration updates the voter registry; online registration is also available. 

As of the latest update of the voter list, finalized on February 1, 2025, 17,296,330 voters were registered in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka does not permit out-of-country voting. The approximately 1.6 million adult Sri Lankans who work overseas, mainly in the Gulf region, are most affected. Various parliamentary and presidential committees have recommended reforms in this regard, but without any concrete results.

Women have the equal right to vote and to political participation in Sri Lanka. A 25 percent quota for women’s representation in the local government authorities is mandated by law.

The Elections (Special Provisions) Act No. 28 of 2011 introduced special provisions to enable a voter with disabilities to be accompanied by an assistant to cast his or her vote. Accordingly, voters with disabilities must produce a statement of eligibility in the prescribed format, certified by the village officer (Grama Niladhari) and a government medical officer. It is mandatory for the assistant to be qualified as an elector. A person with a disability also has the option to request the support of polling center officials to cast his or her vote. 

Ahead of the local government authority elections, the Election Commission of Sri Lanka (ECSL) shared media releases describing the legal provisions and special transportation options for voters with disabilities. In the past year, a cadre of ECSL district election officials received training on basic Sri Lankan Sign Language and Sri Lankan Tamil Sign Language at polling centers. Those officials, along with district sign language interpreters, have trained poll workers who will serve deaf and hard-of-hearing voters at the polling centers. Tactile ballot guides for voters who are blind or have low vision were available for presidential and parliamentary elections in 2024, and they will also be printed for the 2025 local government elections. In addition, posters with sign language instructions will be available for voters who know sign language but are not able to read Sinhala, Tamil, or English. 

Sri Lanka allows some advance voting, referred to as postal voting. The purpose of postal voting is to enable eligible voters who cannot vote in person on Election Day to cast their ballots. Those eligible for advance voting are citizens who will be on election-related duties and are otherwise unable to vote on Election Day, including members of the Sri Lankan armed forces or police, some civil or public servants, and candidates.

The advance voting system involves physically casting a vote, usually at the offices of the head of the police or administrative secretary. Votes can usually be cast a few weeks before Election Day. Postal voting dates for the 2025 local government authority elections were fixed for April 22–24. Voters unable to vote on those dates will have an opportunity to do so on April 29 and 29. 

Apart from the essential workers listed, Sri Lankan law makes no provisions for absentee voting. Nor is mobile voting available to voters who are in hospitals or other institutions or who cannot leave their residences to vote. As outlined in the Sri Lanka Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, proxy voting is explicitly prohibited in the electoral legal framework. 

Parliamentary select committees and a presidential commission of inquiry have recommended liberalizing voting arrangements, among other electoral reforms. 

Sri Lanka’s legal framework does not address election observation. In practice, however, the Election Commission has accredited national and international election observers. During the local government authority elections, it is unlikely that organizations will conduct observation to the same extent as during the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections. However, groups such as the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections and the Commonwealth may conduct some limited observation.

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka (ECSL) receives the support of the Sri Lanka police to manage security on Election Day and for the counting process. The police are also required to provide security for campaign events, the printing of ballot papers, and advance (postal) voting.  They also handle election complaints. During the election period, police on election duty fall under the command of the ECSL as per Article 104 (C) of the Constitution, read with Section 127A of the Parliamentary Elections Act. 

The ECSL may request that the president deploy the military to provide security. Security by military personnel is provided only during times of crisis such as civil war, internal conflict, or the COVID-19 pandemic. The command structure of the military does not change during the election period.

Counting will take place at polling stations when polls close, overseen by returning officers. When a ward has more than one polling station, the returning officer will decide at which one the votes are counted. Counting will be conducted in front of political party agents, observers, and higher election officials. Advance (postal) votes are counted separately.

Counting and tabulation processes vary depending on the type of seat. 

Counting and tabulation will take place at polling centers when polls close, overseen by returning officers. The count will be conducted in front of political party agents, observers, and higher election officials. Vote counting and tabulation will be carried out in two stages. In the first stage, counting officers appointed by the Election Commission count the number of ballot papers in each box. This is to ensure that the number of ballots tallies with the stubs in the ballot boxes. In the second stage, the counting officers sort and count the ballot papers according to the votes cast in favor of each political party or group in the polling district. 

Following the completion of the counting process, the chief counting officer will issue the results, which will be signed by two other counting officers and political party agents. Five copies of the results sheet will be prepared. One is sent to the returning officer, one is displayed on the door of the polling center, and the remaining three are given to the counting agents representing the three political parties that won the first, second, and third highest numbers of votes. 

The final election results for each local authority will be announced after the results from each center are tabulated and certified by the district returning officer at the district result center. The district returning officer will announce the results for both the first-past-the-post and proportional representation seats, following approval of results by the Election Commission. The results may also be published on the Election Commission’s website. 

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka (ECSL) is widely seen as the arbiter of all election-related matters during the electoral period. However, its available actions, remedies, and sanctions depend to a great extent on the executive and judicial institutions involved throughout the process. The ECSL established a temporary National Election Complaints Management Center, as well as District Election Complaints Management Centers in each district, to receive and, where relevant, address cases related to election complaints. These include non-criminal complaints related to the illegal display of posters; violations by public officers; intimidation of voters and candidates; media violations; illegal campaigning on election period; misuse of state resources; breach of code of conduct, regulations, or guidelines adopted by the ECSL; intra-party disputes, and other areas. The election complaints management centers are intended to serve as an alternative dispute resolution method for resolving disputes through mediation and consultation. They do not have an adjudicatory function or judicial power. 

In addition to the filing of complaints at election complaint centers, individuals may file complaints alleging an election offense, corrupt practice, or illegal practice directly with the police or the courts, as provided for in the election laws. The police and judiciary retain authority for investigating and prosecuting criminal actions.

Sri Lanka’s Constitution gives the Supreme Court the authority to hear appeals to electoral petitions or cases heard at the lower court level and cases related to challenges to fundamental rights, as identified in Sri Lanka’s Constitution. As part of its responsibility to hear fundamental rights petitions, the Supreme Court reserves sole and final jurisdiction over complaints against the ECSL.

Sri Lankan law outlines a number of election offenses that are punishable by law. These include:

• Forging or destroying nomination or ballot papers;
• Selling or illegally supplying or possessing ballot papers;
• Tampering with ballot boxes, ballots, or other materials;
• Knowingly voting in an election while under legal disqualification;
• Voting more than once in an election or under a name other than one’s own;
• Threatening to influence or unduly influencing voters;
• Using religious assemblies, places, or events for political campaigns;
• Committing bribery;
• Making payments or contracts for illegal transportation of voters or using private premises for distributing election propaganda materials and illegal campaign work; and
• Publishing false reports that are capable of influencing results in newspapers.

The law also prohibits certain activities within 500 meters of a polling station. These include canvassing for or soliciting votes, distributing materials, operating any loudspeaker, holding processions (except those related to of religious or social events) or meetings, and related activities. These are classified as elections offenses and are punishable by law. 

Any citizen or a group of citizens can file a complaint against a violation of the election law. These include offenses under the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act No. 3 of 2023 and the Anti-Corruption Act No 9 of 2023. The ECSL has a format for filing complaints. Complaints, with evidence attached, can be filed at the National Election Complaints Management Centre (the Election Commission in Colombo) and district election management centers (district election offices). 

The ECSL’s main complaints management hotlines are +94-2868471, +94-2858153, +94-2877618, and +94-2868153. The ECSL can be reached by email at e[email protected].