Sri Lanka’s presidential election strikes into historic second recount after no candidate wins greater than 50% of votes

Police commandos stand guard as a nationwide curfew is imposed exterior a vote counting middle throughout the presidential election in Colombo, Sept. 22, 2024. | Photograph credit score: AP

For the primary time in historical past, Sri Lanka’s presidential election on Sunday (September 22, 2024) moved to a second spherical of counting after no candidate obtained greater than 50% of the votes wanted to be declared the winner.

The newest outcomes confirmed Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the broader Nationwide Individuals’s Energy (NPP) entrance of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna celebration had gained 39.52% of the votes counted.

Sri Lanka Election Outcomes LIVE

Opposition chief Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya is in second place with almost 34.28% of the full votes.

Sri Lankans voted on Saturday (21 September 2024) to elect a brand new president within the first elections for the reason that financial disaster of 2022.

Election Fee Chairman RMAL Rathnayake mentioned Dissanayake and Premadasa had secured most votes within the 2024 presidential election.

Nonetheless, he mentioned that since neither candidate had obtained greater than 50% of the votes, the second-preference vote can be counted and added to those two candidates.

In Sri Lanka, voters select a single winner by rating as much as three candidates so as of choice. If a candidate wins an absolute majority, she or he is said the winner. If not, a second spherical of counting will start, wherein the votes of the second and third alternative can be taken into consideration.

Mr Rathnayake mentioned the brand new President can be declared elected after cumulative votes and preferential votes are counted.

He additionally mentioned that the remaining candidates won’t be thought of for the choice vote.

Dissanayake, chief of the Marxist JVP’s broader entrance, the Nationwide Individuals’s Energy (NPP), is main within the cumulative votes.

The chief of the Nationwide Individuals’s Energy (NPP) was earlier on observe for a transparent victory, however his cumulative vote tally fell when a lot of the votes had been counted.

No election in Sri Lanka has ever gone to a second spherical of counting, as particular person candidates have all the time emerged as clear winners based mostly on first-preference votes.