Download the full interim report here: “Interim Report of the ANFREL International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) to the 2024 Sri Lanka Parliamentary Elections“

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) commends the people of Sri Lanka for their strong commitment to democracy, as demonstrated by their participation in the 2024 Parliamentary Elections. With over 17 million registered voters, the elections saw a turnout of 65% across 22 electoral districts, encompassing 160 polling divisions and 13,421 polling stations. Nearly 9,000 candidates contested 225 seats in Parliament, which will convene on November 21, 2024, to address critical issues such as economic recovery, political stability, and governance reforms.

ANFREL deployed its International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) for the 2024 elections with a team of 30 observers, including two Electoral Analysts, 13 Long-Term Observers (LTOs) from October 31, and 10 Short-Term Observers (STOs) from November 11. The mission covered key stages of the electoral process, including campaign activities, voter education, media monitoring, administrative preparations, Election Day operations, vote counting, and post-election developments across all 22 districts.

The new Campaign Finance Law, implemented for the second time after its debut, reduced overall campaign expenditure and increased competitiveness. However, it also led to fewer campaign activities, potentially adding as a factor to the low turnout. Concerns regarding compliance by political actors and uncertain enforcement mechanisms highlight the need for clearer regulations and stronger oversight. For the next elections, the ECSL can consider gathering stakeholders to discuss how guidelines for monitoring can be improved. In the long term, Parliament of Sri Lanka should consider improving the law by adding provisions that will require registered media entities to submit a report to law enforcement authorities, define the mechanism of identifying market values of expenditures on media ad placements; include discounts as forms of donations; identify a set period by which expenditures will be monitored and calculated; and create a campaign finance monitoring office with the goal of tracking campaign spending through auditing of the returns as well as more proactive investigation and monitoring of campaign activities of political contestants.

During the campaign period, fewer incidents of state resource misuse were reported compared to the presidential elections. However, to ensure that abuse of state resources would no longer become part of the status quo for elections, the ECSL, the police, and the Attorney General should give emphasis on convicting past offenders to dissuade future potential bad actors. The ECSL should closely monitor high profile cases and to report to the public on the status of these cases.

The 2024 Parliamentary Elections saw the extensive use of social media for campaigning, driven by increased internet penetration and a growing user base on platforms like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and WhatsApp. Despite efforts by the Election Commission to curb disinformation, challenges persisted due to limited resources, allowing false economic narratives, hate speech, and gender-based harassment to proliferate, undermining public trust. Moving forward, the Election Commission, in collaboration with CSOs, should consider promoting digital literacy and awareness programs to educate the public on identifying misinformation and disinformation.

While there was a considerable shift towards social media, traditional media still played a big role in these elections. While a decline in bias in terms of coverage with state-media was observed in this year’s parliamentary elections, the same cannot be said for privately owned media. For future elections, media companies should be required to disclose conflicts of interests to the public with a political candidate or party being covered. In the long term, the Parliament of Sri Lanka should consider including provisions in the campaign finance law to enact limits on the amount of time and coverage each candidate or party should be allowed to air during election period.

Despite women comprising over 52% of voters, only 15% of candidates were female, reflecting persistent cultural and gender biases. However, the election marked progress in women’s representation, with 21 women elected to Parliament, up from 12 previously, including 19 from the NPP coalition. For the next elections, the Election Commission should take a more proactive role in shifting the cultural perceptions of women in politics and to create a more conducive and protective environment for women candidates. In the long term, the Parliament of Sri Lanka should consider introducing quotas for the Parliamentary elections while enhancing the quotas system at the provincial, and local government levels.

Voter education efforts led by the Election Commission with civil society support faced gaps, particularly in rural areas and among vulnerable groups. While basic voting procedures were understood, many voters struggled with the preferential voting system due to insufficient civic education from political parties and media. In the next election, the Election Commission should develop tailored voter education programs that are needed to address the specific needs of diverse voter groups, including persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, elderly and first-time voters. In the long term, the Election Commission should partner with the Ministry of Education to produce a more comprehensive civic education curriculum that includes important matters related to democracy, and education such as the basics and functions of government and officials, how to vote, rights and responsibilities of citizens.

The Election Commission has made strides in accessibility for visually and speech-impaired voters through tactile ballots, and sign language training, but the uptake of these measures remains unclear. A significant issue persists with many polling stations lacking wheelchair accessibility, highlighting the need for immediate solutions to ensure inclusivity for persons with disabilities. Systemic barriers disenfranchised many eligible voters, including remand prisoners, overseas citizens, female Buddhist monks, essential workers, Free Trade Zone employees, hospital patients, and institutionalised individuals, indicating significant gaps in voter access and participation. In the next election, the Electoral Commission can consider setting up accessible special polling stations for persons with disabilities and the elderly. In the long term, the Parliament of Sri Lanka and the Election Commission should consider introducing advanced voting methods which take into consideration accessibility for persons with disabilities and the elderly and flexible voting mechanisms tailored to the needs of disenfranchised voters.

The Election Commission enjoys generally high levels of trust and confidence from most stakeholders from voters, to CSOs, and even candidates and political parties. Despite this high level of trust, there are certain aspects by which the public has shown low confidence in the capacity of the Election Commission. Primary amongst these is the capacity to ensure sanctions against those who violated electoral law and its lack of financial independence leading to the postponement of elections. In order to maintain public confidence, the Election Commission together with, the police department, and the attorney general should prioritise the investigation and addressing of violations of rights. They should ensure that appropriate judicial and administrative means for addressing claims of rights violations, including allegations of electoral fraud are provided to all political contestants. Furthermore, the Parliament of Sri Lanka should provide the Election Commission financial independence and fiscal autonomy allowing the conduct of elections to be independent of the government’s control.

In around 28% of polling stations, ANFREL observed that the layout for polling stations compromised the secrecy of the ballot. In future elections, the Election Commission should revise the polling station layouts to prevent staff positioning from compromising ballot secrecy. Another concern observed was the presence of armed police officers at polling stations, usually positioned at the entrance but occasionally seen inside, close to voters. While intended to provide security, their proximity could have an intimidating effect. ANFREL noted ambiguity in their role within polling stations, highlighting the need for clearer guidelines.

Overall, the 2024 Parliamentary Elections were less competitive, with the National People’s Power (NPP) coalition securing a dominant two-thirds majority. This may be attributed to depleted resources and momentum following the highly contested presidential elections. Although the presence of minority and women candidates remained limited, the election saw increased female representation, including notable wins by women from the marginalised Tamil plantation community, reflecting small yet significant gains in inclusivity. To ensure that these gains continue to increase, the Parliament of Sri Lanka, the Election Commission, CSOs and International NGOs should support programs designed to develop and strengthen the capacity of minorities to compete in elections.

The post-election environment remained stable and peaceful, with widespread acceptance of the results as the NPP secured a two-thirds majority. ANFREL observed calm conditions, minimal disturbances, and effective management by the Election Commission, enhancing public confidence and underscoring the nation’s democratic maturity despite consecutive nationwide elections.

ANFREL remains committed to supporting democratic processes in Sri Lanka and looks forward to engaging with all stakeholders in future electoral reforms. A comprehensive final report will be released in two months.

Download the full interim report here: “Interim Report of the ANFREL International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) to the 2024 Sri Lanka Parliamentary Elections” | Sinhala Executive Summary | Tamil Executive Summary