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2019 Sri Lankan Presidential Election ELECTION OBSERVATION REPORT

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2019 Sri Lankan Presidential Election ELECTION OBSERVATION REPORT 2019 Sri Lankan Presidential Election ELECTION OBSERVATION REPORT 1 CMEV was formed in 1997 by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), the Free Media Movement (FMM) and the Coalition Against Political Violence as an independent and non-partisan organisation to monitor the incidence of election related violence and violations. Currently, CMEV is made up of CPA, FMM and the INFORM Human Rights Documentation Centre. 2019 Sri Lankan Presidential Election: Election Observation Report Copyright © CMEV, 2020 All rights reserved. Written and edited by: Manjula Gajanayake, Thusitha Siriwardana, Hirantha Isuranga and Pasan Jayasinghe Photographs by: Kavindu Gayan Centre for Monitoring Election Violence, Colombo, Sri Lanka Phone: +94 11 2826381/+94 11 2826387 | Email: [email protected] www.cmev.org 2 Contents Foreword ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................................................. 6 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................................. 8 Election Overview ................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Election Features and Trends ........................................................................................................................................ 12 CMEV’s Election Observation Mission ...................................................................................................................... 20 Recommendations .............................................................................................................................................................. 26 I. Recommendations for the Forthcoming Parliamentary General Election .............................................. 26 II. Long-Term Recommendations for the Election Process .............................................................................. 31 List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................................................. 34 Pre-Election Observation [27/09/2020 – 15/11/2019] .................................................................................... 35 Geographic Spread of Pre-Election Offences by Type ....................................................................................... 35 Alleged Perpetrators of Pre-Election Offences by Area and Party ................................................................ 36 Alleged Pre-Election Offences by Party and Incident Type ............................................................................. 37 Party Affiliations of Complainants vs. Perpetrators of Pre-Election Offences .......................................... 38 Total Pre-Election Incidents Breakdown .................................................................................................................. 39 Major Pre-Election Incidents ........................................................................................................................................ 40 Minor Pre-Election Incidents ........................................................................................................................................ 41 Alleged Perpetrators of Pre-Election Incidents ..................................................................................................... 42 Pre-Election Incident Complaints by Party ............................................................................................................. 43 Profiles of Pre-Election Incidents by Party .............................................................................................................. 44 CMEV Voter Education Materials ............................................................................................................................... 45 Election Day Observation [16/11/2019] .................................................................................................................. 48 Geographic Spread of Election Day Offences by Type ...................................................................................... 48 Alleged Perpetrators of Election Day Offences by Area .................................................................................... 49 Alleged Election Day Offences by Party .................................................................................................................. 50 Party Affiliations of Complainants vs. Perpetrators of Election Day Offences .......................................... 51 Total Election Day Incidents Breakdown ................................................................................................................. 52 Major Election Day Incidents Breakdown ............................................................................................................... 53 Minor Election Day Incidents Breakdown ............................................................................................................... 54 Alleged Perpetrators of Election Day Incidents .................................................................................................... 55 Election Day Incident Complaints by Party ............................................................................................................ 56 Election Day Media Communiqués ........................................................................................................................... 57 Summary of Election Day Incidents by Electoral Division ................................................................................ 66 3 Post-Election Observation [16/11/2019 – 26/11/2019] .................................................................................. 82 Geographic Spread of Post-Election Offences by Type .................................................................................... 82 Alleged Perpetrators of Post-Election Offences by Area .................................................................................. 83 Alleged Post-Election Offences by Party ................................................................................................................. 84 Party Affiliations of Complainants vs. Perpetrators of Post-Election Offences ........................................ 85 Total Post-Election Incidents Breakdown ................................................................................................................ 86 Major Post-Election Incidents ...................................................................................................................................... 87 Minor Post-Election Incidents ...................................................................................................................................... 88 Alleged Perpetrators of Post-Election Incidents .................................................................................................. 89 Post-Election Incident Complaints by Party ........................................................................................................... 90 Post-Election Media Communiqué ............................................................................................................................ 91 Election Results................................................................................................................................................................... 104 All Island Result ............................................................................................................................................................... 104 Voter Turnout in the Three Most Recent Elections by District ..................................................................... 107 Profile of Voter Turnout in the Three Most Recent Elections ....................................................................... 108 4 Foreword The November 2019 Presidential Election effected a regime change in Sri Lanka, confounding certain commentators by the scale of the victory of Gotabaya Rajapaksa – a majority of over a million votes, predominantly from the majority Sinhala community. It was also the first election in which the victor had not held political office, his former position in the Government of Sri Lanka being Secretary of the Ministry of Defence. The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), as it has done in the past, posted field monitors in all electoral districts during the campaign and an additional component of static monitors in polling booths that could have experienced violence, on Election Day. On the whole, the election and election result, despite the abuse of state resources by both government and opposition, the invective and hate speech in the campaign on social media and the exorbitant campaign costs, reflected the will of the Sri Lankan electorate. However, this does not vitiate the arguments for reform and changes in the election process as outlined in the recommendations of this Report. Given that the General Election is bound to follow soon thereafter, political parties should take serious
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