Election Commissioner General Saman Sri Rathnayaka yesterday requested all eligible voters to ensure they have their identity documents ready at least a day before the polling date. He also urged the voters to arrive at polling stations with their identity documents early to cast their votes for their preferred Presidential candidates.
Rathnayaka told the Sunday Observer they expect to announce the first result of the 2024 Presidential Election at the earliest.
He said that once the poll is concluded they will start counting the votes from 8 pm on the same day.
“We will do our best to announce the first official result of the election- a District result by Polling Divisions, as soon as possible,” he said.
The Election Commission would announce the all-island result after counting the votes possibly before 12 midnight the following day. When asked about the possibility of announcing postal voting results early, he said that counting postal ballots involves a specific process. Each electoral district’s postal votes must be counted at separate centres in keeping with voter regulations.
“The procedure includes several stages, such as opening postal ballot boxes, checking ballot paper envelopes, and verifying postal voter statements,” he said, adding, “It takes time to count the postal votes.”
The counting of the postal votes starts from 4.30 pm on September 21, he said.
Ratnayaka said, “There is no way to know the number or percentage of postal votes a candidate has received before the count is completed, despite claims by some candidates. They are merely surmising.”
When asked about the pre-election conduct of the candidates, their supporters, and the overall state of the campaign, Ratnayake said, “Yes, I am pleased with how the election campaign has progressed so far, though I do have concerns about the behaviour of some media outlets in certain instances.”
