• Lowest in SL’s Prez/P’ment Polls history? 

The Parliamentary General Election which concluded yesterday (14) has seen an approximate voter turnout of 65%, which is, according to the Election Commission (EC), lower than previous Presidential and Parliamentary election in the country’s history.

“This is the lowest we have seen in an election, both Parliamentary and Presidential,” EC Chairperson R.M.A.L. Rathnayake told The Daily Morning yesterday (14). “A significant number of people have not cast their vote."

Rathnayake said however that he is unaware of the reasons as to why the voter turnout was low.

A total of 17,140,354 Sri Lankans were eligible to vote in this year’s Parliamentary Election; however, during the Presidential Election this year, over 3.5 million citizens who were eligible to vote refrained from voting. Out of 17,140,354 registered voters, a total of 13,619,916 cast their vote in the Presidential Election, making the voter turnout 79.46%. Meanwhile, 3,250,438 people or 21.54% did not vote in the Presidential Election.