The May 2025 local elections in Sri Lanka became the most legally contentious in recent history, with over 400 nomination lists rejected and more than 200 court cases filed before polling even began. Election monitors attribute the chaos to complex regulations, poor communication from the Election Commission, and unclear guidelines.
Despite a peaceful and relatively corruption-free process, voter turnout plummeted to 60 percent, signalling public fatigue after back-to-back national elections. The National People’s Power (NPP) emerged as the dominant force, while traditional parties faced near-total collapse. However, fragmented Councils and legal disputes have raised concerns about governance stability, prompting calls for urgent electoral reforms.
In what became the most legally fought local election in Sri Lanka’s recent history, over 400 nomination lists were rejected, and more than 200 court cases were filed before a single ballot was cast. “This is a record in both rejections and litigation,” Executive Director of People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), Rohana Hettiarachchi said.
The high number of rejections was due to complex regulations, unclear instructions, and a communications breakdown between the Election Commission and the parties it is supposed to serve, he said.
“The Election Commission must do more to simplify processes, and the Government must take steps to enhance the independence of the Commission. There is a definite communication gap between the Election Commission and the political parties. Out of over 330 Local Councils, at least one nomination list was rejected at two-thirds of the Councils,” he said.
Hettiarachchi said 114 out of more than 330 Local Councils accepted nomination papers without any rejections. The remaining had at least one nomination list dismissed, forcing parties and Independent groups to turn to the courts. The sheer volume of legal challenges put pressure on the election calendar and raised questions about how well Sri Lanka’s electoral process actually works, he said.
“Altogether, 429 lists were rejected and political parties and Independent groups filed 208 court cases about these rejections. So, we can say that the May 2025 Local Council election as one with the highest number of rejections in history and one where the highest number of court cases was filed. The Election Commission needs to rethink its processes. It has to communicate better with political parties, and it must also simplify the processes,” he said.
Hettiarachchi said the process is too complex and the Election Commission does not communicate well with political parties. “We need clearer rules, a simpler process, and better guidance. Otherwise, we will keep seeing nominations thrown out and court cases stacking up,” he said.
Despite these setbacks, the monitors said that the May 2025 poll was one of the most peaceful and least corrupt in memory. Election-related violence continued its decade-long decline, and the misuse of public property hit a record low.
“In the past decade, the election related violence has been decreasing. However, the misuse of public property continued to grow until the 2024 Presidential Election. State property was misused in a systematic manner and some abuses that came from the highest level of Government affected voters across the country. However, since the 2024 Presidential election, State resources have not been systematically abuses. There were hardly any abuses in either, the November 2024 general election or the May 2025 Local Council election,” he said.
Low voter turnout, bad for stability
Election monitors also said that the low voter turnout, just over 60 percent of the registered voters went to the polls and a 15 percent drop from the last Local Government election in 2018, was mainly due to election fatigue.
Executive Director, Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IDRES) Manjula Gajanayake said that the Local Council election was to be held before the two national elections.
“The election was postponed twice in 2022 and 2023 under Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickeremesinghe administrations. When Local Government elections were held last time, in 2018, it was the first election in three years and there was a lot of enthusiasm. That’s why almost 80 percent of the voters went to polling booths. But in May 2025, it was held in the shadow of two national elections, and the interest was less. That’s why there was a drop of a 15 percent voter turnout compared to February 2018,” he said.
Another reason for the lower turnout is the weekday voting, and lack of leave for workers, Hettiarachchi said. He added that the Government must also look at the exclusion of Sri Lankans working abroad as a key factor. “About 3.5 million people, nearly a fifth of eligible voters, have not been voting in our elections in recent times. About a million people do not get leave on election day and there are about 2.5 million people who are working abroad,” he said.
Executive Director of Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) Manas Makeen said the lower voter turnout has a direct impact on Council stability. Lower turnout means it is harder for any party to secure a majority. Councils then become fragmented, which can lead to confusion and deadlock. “When turnout drops, no party can get more than 50 percent easily. Councils become unstable, and making decisions gets harder,” Makeen said.
Hettiarachchi said the mixed proportional system is designed to ensure that the 40 percent of seats that are not elected at the ward level goes to parties that do not dominate the wards. While this electoral system can be highly democratic, it’s potentially destabilising.
“If one party does not get 50 percent of the vote or above, it becomes difficult to get most of the seats. This is what has happened in many places, and this has led to confusion and chaos. There is no cut off point where a party or a group is eligible for a seat and because of that, parties that get small amount of votes get seats. This can be a good thing for democracy because there is more representation, but is this good for stability? I think it would be better if we have a cutoff point at about five percent. We really need to look at the laws that govern both local and provincial councils,” he said.
Consequences of delaying elections
The election monitors said that the voters have been punishing those responsible for election delays in recent years.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the United National Party (UNP), which had previously postponed elections, were almost wiped out at the grassroots and national level.
“Voters don’t forgive parties that try to avoid facing the public,” Gajanayake said. “In 2018, the SLPP and the UNP were the number one and two. This time, they have not won a single Local Council. The NPP and the SJB are now the dominant parties, while traditional parties have faded.”
The National People’s Power (NPP) emerged as the clear winner, securing 3,722 of 5,027 wards, about 70 percent. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) won 514, and the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) secured 328. “The gap between the NPP and the SJB is over 3,200. Now, the NPP has Local Councillors to represent over 3,700 wards, including some wards in the North and the East. So, I don’t think one can take away from the NPP’s dominance at the ward level,” he said.
However, the NPP made a number of errors in its campaign, Gajanayake said. The NPP continued with the messaging they had helped them during the Presidential and Parliamentary election campaigns.
“Thus, they were not able to highlight candidates at the grassroots. This doesn’t allow the party to highlight candidates who are popular in the villages. On the other hand, in the North and the East, the traditional political parties saw some resurgence. Usually, the Tamils in the North and the East, during Local Government elections, vote for Tamil political parties. However, during this election, some NPP candidates had won the wards,” he said.
Despite the obvious changes, political parties have not yet understood that there are marked differences between the 2018 and 2025 Local Government elections. There was no campaign finance law in 2018 and there was only one quota, i.e., for women. In 2025, political parties had to adhere to two quotas, for women and youth.
“I am not sure if anyone considered these when they made campaign strategies. Also it’s obvious that the era of traditional political parties is over,” the IDRES head said.
