Presidential Election, January 2015

Floods, December 2014 

In December 2014, Sri Lanka was hit by flooding which then contributed to landslides. The flooding affected 22 out of 25 districts, with an estimated 1.1 million people impacted – including 18,537 houses damaged, 6,400 houses fully destroyed and 39 deaths (UN OCHA 2015). The flooding also inundated hospitals and government offices and caused 53 of 72 reservoirs in the country to overflow, intensifying the damage to agricultural lands (Sri Lanka Red Cross 2014). 

Impact on the electoral process 

The Sri Lankan presidential election was held on 8 January 2015. In the lead-up, observer groups expressed concern that citizens affected by the previous month’s flooding would not be able to exercise their right to vote.  

According to the Commonwealth Observer Group, election day was peaceful, well managed and ‘reflected the will of the people’ (Commonwealth 2015). However, prior to election day, the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) wrote to the Election Commissioner, pointing out that an estimated 400,000+ displaced citizens might have trouble reaching their designated polling stations or accessing their polling cards and other ID documents (Colombo Page 2014). Shortly before the polls, Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Minister had fielded media queries about the potential for electoral postponement and accused the opposition of seeking to politicize the crisis (OnLanka 2014). 

The government took action to provide aid and housing to those affected by the floods, issuing cooked meals and dry rations, directing displaced persons to safety centres and taking steps to pay compensation for property damage (Sri Lanka Red Cross 2014) (UN OCHA 2015). By 5 January 2015, UN OCHA reported that the majority of the 30,000+ displaced persons living in safety centres or with host families had gradually begun to return home. 

However, observers from CMEV noted that there were several instances of ruling party politicians electioneering under the guise of providing relief to flood-affected victims – for example, by suggesting that emergency food relief was distributed under the aegis of incumbent President Rajapaksa and requesting that recipients vote accordingly (CMEV 2015). 

Ultimately, the election proceeded efficiently even in the Eastern and Northern Provinces which were most affected (CMEV 2015). The report from the Election Commission states that temporary sheds were erected in 87 polling districts due to a lack of suitable buildings; however, it is unclear if this was solely due to the impact of floods (ECSL 2015). 

It does not appear that the election authorities embarked on any changes to procedure. The Election Commission noted that it already had preparations and guidelines for disturbances to elections, including erecting temporary polling stations and, which did not take place, using air transport to travel to polling stations. Representatives of various political parties suggested changes to procedure which the Commission declined, such as extending the issuance of temporary identity cards to voters without National Identity Cards due to flooding (ECSL 2015). 

Voter turnout in 2015 was 81.52 per cent (ECSL 2019), in comparison to 61.26 per cent in the previous presidential election in 2010 (ECSL 2010).