• To obtain HR, resources 

The Election Commission (EC) is working with the European Union (EU) and several other international organisations to obtain specialist personnel and resources needed for its work on digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI), which are difficult to secure through the Government, EC Chairperson R M A L Rathnayake said.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (2), he said that the EC had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the organisations which had agreed to provide the human resource (HR) and other assistance required. He also said that an EU delegation had already met with the EC, and that another team is expected to visit Sri Lanka in January of next year (2027) for further discussions.

The EC is also working with the United Nations (UN) on the same subject, he added. “A UN team representing 18 countries came to Sri Lanka recently and held discussions with us. We had extensive discussions on digital technology and AI,” he said.

He explained that the EC had first sought the resources that it needed from the Government, which provided the necessary facilities. “We request the resources that we need from the Government, and the Government provides the necessary facilities. However, there’re certain facilities that are difficult for us to obtain through the Government. We seek those from foreign organisations,” Rathnayake said.

Digital technology and AI have become increasingly important to elections, particularly as political campaigns and voter communication increasingly take place on social media and other online platforms. The EC has identified the spread of misleading information, AI-generated content and online political activity as issues requiring attention.