Hate Speech and Divisive Language During the Parliamentary General Election 2020

CMEV has prepared a report which provides an account of the incidence of hate speech and divisive language it has observed in the campaign for the Parliamentary General Election 2020. The report details notable incidents of hate speech and divisive language, and trends in them throughout the campaign period. It also highlights a public awareness campaign CMEV has undertaken addressing hate speech and divisive language.

Download the report here

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Election Violations Update #3 (July 21, 2020)

The third update of election violations CMEV has observed and recorded covers the period until July 21.

CMEV එය විසින් නිරීක්ෂණය සහ වාර්තා කරන ලද මැතිවරණ නීති උල්ලංඝණය කිරීම් හා ප්‍රචණ්ඩ ක්‍රියා පිළිබඳ තුන්වන සිද්ධි වාර්තාකරණය ජූලි 21 වන තෙක් කාලය ආවරණය කරයි.

சீ.எம்.இ.வி யின் மூன்றாவது தேர்தல் சட்ட மீறல்கள் மற்றும் வன்முறைகள் சம்பந்தமான கண்காணிப்பு அறிக்கை ஜூலை மாதம் 21ம் திகதி வரையிலாகும்.

CMEV’s Election Campaign Cost Monitoring Unit is Accepting Election Expense Details from the Public

If you know any details about expenses related to the election campaigns of any political parties/candidates, inform the Election Campaign Cost Monitoring Unit established by CMEV

දේශපාලන පක්ෂ/අපේක්ෂකයන් ස්වකීය පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණ ප‍්‍රචාරණය උදෙසා වැය කරන වියදම් පිළිබඳ ව ඔබ දන්නේ නම්, මැතිවරණ ප‍්‍රචණ්ඩ ක‍්‍රියා නිරීක්ෂණ මධ්‍යස්ථානය මඟින් පිහිටුවා ඇති “මැතිවරණ පිරිවැය පිළිබඳ නිරීක්ෂණ ඒකකය” අමතන්න

அரசியல் கட்சிகள்ஃ வேட்பாளர்கள் சுயமாக பாராளுமன்ற தேர்தல் பிரசார நடவடிக்கைகளுக்கு செய்கின்ற செலவூகள் தொடர்பாக நீங்கள் அறிவீர்கள் எனில்இ எமக்கு அந்த தகவல்களை அறியத் தாருங்கள்

CMEV Field Visit Report – Election Situation Analysis as of 15th July 2020

CMEV conducted its first evaluation of the ground situation during the election campaign for the Parliamentary General Election 2020. This observation mission was conducted two weeks since the official campaigns of the major political parties and candidates were launched. Four field teams together with field observers conducted these field evaluations in the Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Batticaloa, Digamadulla, Nuwara-Eliya and Monaragala electoral districts with the primary objectives of observing the commitment of political parties and candidates in following the health guidelines for conducting election campaigning amidst the COVID-19 outbreak; gauging public interest in participating in the elections; and developments in the ground campaigns. This report summarises the field findings.

Download the report in English

Election Violations Update #2 (July 17, 2020)

The second update of election violations CMEV has observed and recorded covers the period until July 17

දෙවැනි සිද්ධි වාර්තාකරණය : මැතිවරණ ප්‍රචණ්ඩ ක්‍රියා නිරීක්ෂණ මධ්‍යස්ථානය (CMEV) මඟින්  නිරීක්ෂණය සහ වාර්තා කරන ලද මැතිවරණ නීති උල්ලංඝණය කිරීම් හා ප්‍රචණ්ඩ ක්‍රියා පිළිබඳ දෙවැනි  වාර්තාව  

CMEV එය විසින් නිරීක්ෂණය සහ වාර්තා කරන ලද මැතිවරණ නීති උල්ලංඝණය කිරීම් හා ප්‍රචණ්ඩ ක්‍රියා පිළිබඳ දෙවැනි සිද්ධි වාර්තාකරණය මඟින් අනාවරණය කරනු ලබන්නේ වසර 2020 ජූලි මස 12 වැනි දින සිට ජුලි මස  17 දක්වා කාලය හා සබැඳි සිද්ධීන්ය.

சீ.எம்.இ.வி யின் இரண்டாவது தேர்தல் சட்ட மீறல்கள் மற்றும் வன்முறைகள் சம்பந்தமான கண்காணிப்பு அறிக்கை ஜூலை மாதம் 17ம் திகதி வரையிலாகும்.

Election Violations Update #1 (July 15, 2020)

In the lead up to General Election 2020, CMEV will be providing periodic updates of election violations it has observed and recorded.

This first update covers the period from March 2 to July 12 (the dissolution of Parliament until the start of postal voting).

පළමු සිද්ධි වාර්තාකරණය :මැතිවරණ ප්‍රචණ්ඩ ක්‍රියා නිරීක්ෂණ මධ්‍යස්ථානය (CMEV) මඟින්  නිරීක්ෂණය සහ වාර්තා කරන ලද මැතිවරණ නීති උල්ලංඝණය කිරීම් හා ප්‍රචණ්ඩ ක්‍රියා පිළිබඳ පළමු වාර්තාව  

මෙම  වාර්තාව මඟින් අනාවරණය කරනු ලබන්නේ 2020 මාර්තු 2 සිට ජූලි 12 (පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසුරුවා හැරීම සිට තැපැල් ඡන්ද ආරම්භය) දක්වා කාල සීමාවේ සිදු වූ සිද්ධීන් හා සබැඳි වාර්තාය.

2020 பாராளுமன்றத் தேர்தல் சட்ட மீறல்கள் மற்றும் வன்முறை சம்பவங்கள் குறித்து சி.எம்.இ.வி யின் கண்காணிப்பு அறிக்கை.

இந்த முதல் அறிக்கை மார்ச் 2 முதல் ஜூலை 12 வரையிலான காலத்தை உள்ளடக்கியது. (பாராளுமன்றம் கலைக்கப்பட்டதிலிருந்து அஞ்சல் வாக்களிப்பு தொடங்கும் வரை).

CMEV Statement on Gazetted COVID-19 Elections Regulations

July 19, 2020 – The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) welcomes the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services finally gazetting the COVID-19 Elections Regulations on July 17, 2020. This comes 38 days after the ‘Health Guidelines for Conducting the Elections amidst the COVID-19 Outbreak’ (‘the original guidelines’) were first issued by the Ministry on June 09, 2020 and only 19 days before Election Day. Moreover, CMEV expresses its concern that a number of changes have been made to the original guidelines from when they were first published to them being gazetted as regulations. In particular:

  • the maximum number of persons permitted to attend a meeting has been increased from 100 to 300, and 500 if the party leader is attending
  • the maximum number of persons permitted to engage in door-to-door canvassing has been increased from 3 to 5
  • numerous provisions in the original guidelines have been omitted from the gazetted regulations altogether, including provisions relating to: checking and bundling of ballot papers at District Returning offices (section 2.5 of the original guidelines); polling booths (2.9); conducting election in the quarantine centres (2.10); receiving ballot boxes at counting centres (2.11); counting centre etiquette (2.12); results tabulation centres (2.13); transport of staff and materials (2.14); special instructions for Police officers (3); disinfection (4); waste disposal (5); after the election (6). Also missing is the Health Administrative Structure outlined in section 7 to implement the guidelines.

CMEV is alarmed by these changes given that the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country appears to be worsening. Relaxing physical campaigning restrictions is likely to expose more voters to COVID-19 through increased campaigning activities. Relaxing the restrictions on meeting attendance depending on the attendance of party leaders seems especially illogical.

Taking all this into consideration, CMEV requests the Minister of Health and Indigenous Medical Services and the Director-General of Health Services to:

  • Gazette the remaining provisions in the originally published guidelines, and
  • Provide an explanation to the voting public about why the originally published guidelines have been relaxed in this manner, and what steps they will take if the relaxed guidelines contribute to the pandemic situation becoming worse
  • Work with healthcare workers, particularly PHIs, to resolve existing issues and to promote the regulations and educate the public

CMEV is fully committed to the election being held in a free, fair and safe manner, however, it insists that the government and health authorities have a responsibility to guarantee the health of all voters in the process, beyond short-term partisan electoral gains.

Download this statement in English
Download this statement in Sinhala

CMEV inquires about delay in gazetting election Health Guidelines

CMEV wrote to the Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine and the Director General Health Services questioning the unusual delay in gazetting COVID19 Health Guidelines for conducting the Parliamentary General Election. CMEV seeks assurance that the delay is not for any political advantage.

CMEV Election Observation Report – Presidential Election 2019

CMEV is pleased to present its final Election Observation Report for the 2019 Presidential Election. The report provides an overview of the election overall; key election features and trends; a summation of CMEV’s election observation activities; trends in election violations it finds notable; and recommendations for all election stakeholders to strengthen and improve the election process in Sri Lanka.

It also provides detail, data and tabulations on election violations observed and recorded by CMEV during the pre-election, Election Day and post-election periods; as well as the communiqués and materials CMEV published throughout the election period.

Download the Report in English here

Download the Report in Tamil here

Nomination Lists of Political Parties and Independent Groups for the Parliamentary General Election 2020

CMEV has compiled the nomination lists of political party and independent groups’ candidates to contest each electoral district in the upcoming Parliamentary General Election 2020.

Click the District to download its Nomination List

  • Northern Province :- Jaffna | Vanni (Vanni electoral district includes the administrative districts of Mullaitivu, Mannar and Vavuniya)

A Monograph on Functional Democracy in Sri Lanka : Download the Trilingual Monograph in here

National Lists of Political Parties for the Parliamentary General Election 2020

CMEV has compiled the National Lists of persons submitted by each political party and independent group to Election Commission for the Parliamentary General Election 2020 (under article 99 A of the Constitution). 29 out of 225 seats in Parliament are allocated to political parties and independent groups in proportion to their share of the national vote.

The names of the candidates to contest under each electoral district that was submitted during the nomination period (to fill the remaining 196 seats) will also be uploaded soon. 

Download here

A Monograph on Functional Democracy in Sri Lanka : Download the Trilingual Monograph in here