(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) – A total of 53,384 eligible citizens of the Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha area will cast their votes tomorrow in the by-election to elect a new Pradeshiya Sabha.
A total of 28 councillors will be elected at tomorrow’s polls of which 17 Members will be elected according to electoral wards while the rest will be chosen based on Proportional Representation (PR), as per the Local Government Elections laws.
Five recognized political parties, namely, the United National Party, United People’s Freedom Alliance, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, Democratic United National Front and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna are contesting this LG election. All arrangements have been finalised to conduct the Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha election tomorrow, Galle District Returning Officer Somarathna Vidanapathirana said.
Election propaganda campaigns for the Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha election ended by 12 midnight Tuesday. Postal voting took place on September 30. Those who failed to cast their postal votes on that day were given another opportunity on October 4, Vidanapathirana said.
The 53,384 eligible voters will cast their votes at 47 polling centers where the counting of votes will also be carried out after voting ends at 4 p.m. The final result will be released at the Chief Election Monitoring Centre located at the Elpitiya Vocational Training Institute. The results will be relayed live on TV and radio.The pre-election period was peaceful with no major incidents reported.
The authorities have deployed 800 police officers to maintain law and order in the PS area during the elections and four police personnel will be allocated to each polling station tomorrow. Police will also conduct mobile patrols on Election Day and immediately afterwards. Additional personnel from the Police Special Task Force have been deployed to man road blacks and for other security deployments. More than 850 public servants will work as election staff.
The Elpitiya PS elections had been delayed since 2018, after the Supreme Court (SC) issued an interim injunction preventing the poll, when one of the contesting parties filed action against the non-recognition of its nomination papers. At the conclusion of the case on August 30, 2019, the SC issued an order quashing the Galle District Returning Officer’s decision to reject the Petitioner, the Prajathantravadi Eksath Jathika Peramuna (Democratic United National Front)’s nomination papers. The SC ordered the Elections Commission to hold the election for the Elpitiya PS without any further delay. Accordingly, the EC announced that the Elpitiya PS Elections would be held on October 11. This election is being held at around five weeks before the islandwide Presidential Election, which is to be held on November 16.
