This monograph discusses electoral systems in Sri Lanka. With the introduction of the universal franchise in 1931, Sri Lanka is considered the oldest democracy in Asia. Since then, numerous elections have been held in Sri Lanka under different electoral and constitutional arrangements.

This monograph provides a history of the different electoral systems that have been used in Sri Lanka, explains how they have functioned and looks at the issues they have raised. It will focus mainly on the electoral systems used to elect members of a legislature and look specifically at the Sri Lankan Parliament.

The purpose of this monograph is to help Sri Lankan voters understand debates about electoral reform and contextualise the principles that underpin these debates and strengthen their knowledge for effective participation in it.

This monograph covers the following questions:

1. What is an electoral system?
2. What kinds of electoral systems are there?
3. What electoral systems have been used in Sri Lanka?
4. What is the First Past the Post (FPTP) system?
5. What is the Proportional Representation (PR) system?
6. What is the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system?
7. What are the major issues around electoral reform in Sri Lanka?
8. What principles should be considered for electoral reform in Sri Lanka?

Download the Trilingual Monograph in here

Since the inception of the organization, CMEV has been working to mainstream the voting rights of marginalized groups, by mainly taking part in the Electoral reforms debate.  During the last Presidential Election, CMEV was able to mainstream its Election observation process, providing opportunities for Persons With Disabilities to work at CMEV office, as well as in the field as short term Election observers. – PGE 2015 report with Braille

At the same time, CMEV worked to Educate and inform Persons With Disabilities to exercise their right to vote while proactively engaging in the civil life without being discriminated on grounds of disability. Further, CMEV in partnership with the Election Commission distributed relevant voter awareness material in accessible formats. Currently CMEV has taken a new initiative to provide Braille printing of all available main Election acts and regulations. – Voter Awareness (1)

Further, CMEV in partnership with a group of civil society organizations and individuals promoting the rights of Persons With Disabilities, including volunteers from the 2015 ‘Enabled Elections’ made a submission to the Public Representations Committee on Constitutional Reforms, to be brought to the attention of the Constitutional Assembly, in promulgating a new Constitution for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. It has been a landmark collective effort as such a submission on the political rights of Persons with Disabilities was made for the first time in political history. In the same time, Public Representations Committee on Constitutional Reforms had been included several proposals made through the submissions.

Currently CMEV has got its final report of the Parliamentary General Election 2015 in Braille printing, along with other important documents. Those who wish to refer the said documents, please contact Tharuka Karunarathne on 0754302423.

Read this release in Sinhala here – ශ්-රි ලංකාවේ මැතිවරණ ක්-රියාවලියට – බ්-රේල් මුද්-රණයෙන් නිකුත් කිරීම.

Since the very first general parliamentary election of Sri Lanka that was commenced in the year 1947, the recent general parliamentary Election that was held on the 17^th of August 2015, is regarded as the 16^th such election if one were to take the referendum held in the year 1982 as well into account.

Various opposition  entities with the expectations of a good governance, lined up to question and critique the absence of the elements of a good governance in the conduct of the previous regime by raising their voices collectively with the participation of numerous community based organizations. Consequently, Mr. Maithripala Sirisena was appointed as the president on the 9^th of January 2015. The subsequent general election also was spearheaded with the same intents of a good governance and accordingly the political fronts which advocated the principles of the good governance procured the victory at the general parliamentary elections held on the 17^th August in the year 2015. The victory of the said election can be considered a significant landmark in the electoral history of Sri Lanka because the respective political fronts which were thus appointed had placed the agenda of the Civil Society Organizations at the forefront. In addition to the aforesaid distinction, the general election held in the year 2015 is significant due to the free and democratic atmosphere that had been manifested amidst the transitional phase of Sri Lanka that transformed from a post-conflict ambiance into a post-war context. Hence this particular general election turned out to be a steppingstone for the successive elections to be able to reinstate the democratic right of the citizenry to select and elect the candidates of their choice sans any influence.

The misappropriation of the state property as in the case of the presidential election in the year 2015 was largely absent at the recent election and instead, there was greater latitude for the election commissioner to consistently deploy his authority impartially in the electoral machination. Although there were instances of incurring colossal expenses on political campaign and hateful remarks levelled at political opponents, overall the general parliamentary election 2015 is recorded as a free and fair election that was held in Sri Lanka after a long period of time. Moreover, this election is regarded as the last election commenced under the authority of the Department of Elections prior to the establishment of an independent Elections Commission.

This report will be translated to Sinhala and Tamil languages as well and will be compiled in Braille and as an audio version in Sinhala for the benefit of visually impaired Persons.

You can request further information or submit your comments via cmev@cpalanka.org.

Download the report in full here (62Mb PDF).