Parliamentary Election, 14 November 2024

Sri Lanka’s Parliament consists of 225 seats. Of these 196 are directly elected from 22 multi-member districts and 29 are chosen via a national open-list proportional system. Seat allocation by district is determined by the Election Commission based on population. After President Dissanayake's victory in the presidential election 21 September 2024, Parliament was dissolved, leading to a snap parliamentary election on 14 November. The electoral management body in Sri Lanka is the Election Commission of Sri Lanka (IFES 2024). Voting in Sri Lanka is voluntary (ACE n.d.).

On 19 January 2023, the Election Expenditure Regulation Act No. 03 of 2023 was passed, encompassing a demand for political parties to abide by a legal maximum limit of expenditures for campaigning (Ahmad 2023; Election Commission 2024a). This created a more inclusive and competitive landscape according to the Asian Network for Free Elections. However, it also led to less campaigning which is thought to have lowered voter turnout (ANFREL 2024). Several election monitoring organizations (among them Transparency International Sri Lanka; and People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections, PAFFREL) have criticized the legislation for lacking an adequate monitoring mechanism; expenditures still not disclosed with transparency (Ahmad 2023).

During the pre-election period PAFFREL, in collaboration with the Election Commission and Hashtag Generation actively monitored social media to identify and fact-check disinformation. To further manage the surge in false campaigning messages, the Election Commission established a five-member task force to scrutinize misleading content, remove such posts, and take legal action against those violating electoral guidelines (Parakrama 2024). Online efforts to discredit opponents was a prevalent problem ahead of the election. For instance, rumours of excessive printing of money fuelled public fears of hyperinflation (ANFREL 2024). Additionally, there was a rise in online gender-based harassment of female candidates compared to previous elections (Perera 2024).

A Special Election Joint Disaster Operations Unit was established by the Disaster Management Centre and the Electoral Commission to manage any disruptions that could occur during the week of the election, 12–16 November. Contingency plans were put in place, such as alternative voting locations, communication channels and emergency logistics (DMC 2024). 

In total, 16 reports of electoral violence were received by PAFFREL between 11 and 30 October. One example is a serious assault by a member of the National People’s Power Party (NPP) youth wing in Badabadda on a PAFFREL long-term observer during a party meeting (PAFFREL 2024). PAFFREL further received 923 confirmed complaints regarding violations of electoral laws. These included illegal election propaganda, illegal party offices, and influence-pedalling, among others (PAFFREL 2024). 

Two observer organizations noted that polling stations were generally inaccessible to disabled voters, often lacking ramps and presenting other risks to people with disabilities (ANFREL 2024; PAFFREL 2024). 

President Dissanayake’s NPP coalition saw a landslide win and secured a two-thirds majority in the parliament, reducing the previously largest party—the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Party—from 145 to just three seats (Radhakrishnan 2024; Election Commission 2024b; Jayasinghe and Ganguly 2024). Despite making up over 52% of voters, women accounted for only 15% of candidates, highlighting enduring cultural and gender biases. However, progress was evident with the election of 21 female MPs—the highest number in Sri Lanka's parliamentary history (ANFREL 2024). 

Voter turnout was 68.93 per cent (Election Commission 2024b), a large decrease compared to the 2020 parliamentary election which saw a turnout of 75.89 per cent (International IDEA n.d.).