2020 Sri Lankan Parliamentary General Election ELECTION OBSERVATION REPORT 1 2020 Sri Lankan Parliamentary General Election ELECTION OBSERVATION REPORT 2 The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) is an election observation organization that contributes to both the election monitoring process and the electoral reform process of this country. CMEV was formed in 1997 jointly by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), the Free Media Movement (FMM), and the INFORM Human Rights Documentation Centre. One of CMEV’s starting core objectives was to maintain an updated database of election violations. This objective has now been expanded to include the observation of estimated election campaign costs of political parties, independent groups and candidates contesting elections. CMEV Management : Co-Conveners : Dr. P. Saravanamuttu, Udaya Kalupathirana (Mr.), Executive Director, INFORM Seetha Ranjani, Co-Convener, Free Media Movement (FMM) Manjula Gajanayake - National Coordinator, Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) Contact Details : Centre for Monitoring Election Violence, Colombo, Sri Lanka Phone: +94 11 2826388/+94 11 2826384 Fax: +94 11 2826146 Email: [email protected] Website: www.cmev.org Facebook: facebook.com/electionviolence Twitter: twitter.com/cmev Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cmevsl/ 2020 Sri Lankan Parliamentary General Election: Election Observation Report Copyright © CMEV, 2020 All rights reserved. Written by: Manjula Gajanayake, National Coordinator, CMEV Designed by: Dilki Madhushika, Project Assistant, CMEV Tabulation of Election Data: Hirantha Isuranga Special Thanks: Thusitha Siriwardana and Pasan Jayasinghe Photographs by: Nirmani Gunarathne Cover Page by: Fathimath Ameena, Interns, CMEV About the Cover Page : ''A female voter arrived at Sirimavo Bandaranaike Balika Vidyalaya, Stanmore Crescent- Hall No. 01, Polling Station No. 11 located in Polling Division “D” Colombo East in the Colombo District to cast her vote reading the notices displayed by the Election Commission.'' 3 Contents Contents .................................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 7 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ 10 Dissolution of Parliament and the longest campaign period ......................................................................... 10 Holding National level Election amid a globally affected Pandemic Situation ........................................ 10 Voters who have lost the right to vote and the voter list revision process ............................................... 10 Rejected voter turnout and established electoral system in the country .................................................. 11 Calling for nominations and contesting a record number of candidates .................................................. 11 The biggest Logistic Operation and election costs ............................................................................................. 12 Election Results .................................................................................................................................................................. 12 CMEV’s Election Observation Process .................................................................................. 14 Deployment of long-term and short-term observers ........................................................................................ 14 Election Complaint Mechanism .................................................................................................................................. 14 Conducting the Election in Restricted Context amid COVID-19 .................................................................... 15 Pandemic .............................................................................................................................................................................. 16 Election Commission's position and public opinion ........................................................................................... 17 The Constitutional responsibility of the President to hold free and fair elections ................................. 18 Announcement of the Date of Parliamentary Elections .................................................................................... 18 Campaigning during a pandemic situation ............................................................................................................ 19 Providing relief to the affected people .................................................................................................................... 19 Complaints related to the politicization of the relief process ......................................................................... 20 Failure to create a 'Level Playing Field' during the election campaign ....................................................... 21 Defeat to COVID-19 and Victory for Democracy ................................................................................................. 22 Guidelines for holding elections amid the COVID-19 Pandemic................................................................... 22 Election campaign challenged by quarantine laws ............................................................................................. 22 Delay in legalization of election guidelines ............................................................................................................ 23 Best Practices ...................................................................................................................................................................... 24 Conducting Mock Polls .................................................................................................................................................. 24 Election Day ........................................................................................................................................................................ 24 Quarantine-centric and self-quarantined voters .................................................................................................. 26 Election observation in the context of COVID-19 ................................................................................................ 27 Below are some of the key interventions made by CMEV ............................................................................... 27 Recommendations .................................................................................................................. 29 Establishment of a Permanent Election Complaints Management Unit ..................................................... 29 Passing of an Act of Parliament relating to the functioning of the Election Commission .................. 29 4 Introduce systematic regulation for registered political parties .................................................................... 30 Expansion of voting opportunities............................................................................................................................. 31 Review and enact the proposals of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Election Commission ........................................................................................................................................................................ 31 Appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee on electoral reform................................................................... 32 Conduct a proper review and amendment of the powers vested in the Election Commission to deliver its mandate ........................................................................................................................................................... 33 Design a comprehensive, long-term action plan to increase the participation of women and youth at all political levels .......................................................................................................................................................... 33 Estimated Election Campaign Cost Monitoring Initiative of CMEV .................................. 34 List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. 37 Pre-Election Observation [02/03/2020 – 04/08/2020] ....................................................... 39 Geographic Spread of Pre-Election Offences by Type ....................................................................................... 39 Alleged Perpetrators of Pre-Election Offences by Area and Party ................................................................ 40 Alleged Pre-Election Offences by Party and Incident Type ............................................................................. 41 Party Affiliations of Complainants vs. Perpetrators of Election Day Offences .......................................... 42 Total Pre-Election Incidents Breakdown .................................................................................................................. 44 Major Pre-Election Incidents ........................................................................................................................................ 45 Minor Pre-Election Incidents .......................................................................................................................................