People are eagerly waiting for the presidential election in this year and also election has received a great interest from political parties as well as from the candidates who are contesting for the election. When comparing with the presidential election which was held in the year 2019, it can be observed that there is about 1.1 million increment of the voters. Apart from that there is an addition of about 76,000 voters who have reached 18 years of age during the time period of 01/01/2024 to 30/06/2024 . Altogether there are about 17.1 million voters who has the voting power for this election and also there is a new election law to regulate election expenses as well. Presidential election which is scheduled to held on 21/09/2024, is the first election which is going to be held up after the economic crisis struggle.
When considering the principles such as democracy and universal declaration of Human Rights, every candidates should get the equal opportunity to utilised discretionary powers to contest at the election. A presidential candidate can enjoy lot of benefits if the value of bail can be increased, there is a possibility of a reduction of the number of presidential candidates.
“Regulation of Election expenditure Act No. 03 of 2023” Provides for the regulation of expenditure of the presidential candidates during the period of elections, If a voter who has the voting rights decides not to vote for a candidate at the election, the result would be the selection of an inappropriate candidate. If a voter decides to go and vote at the election may help to reduce that risk at least for a certain extent.
At present our country requires efficient leadership who has the ability to rule the country by implementing a strong economic policy. Every citizen has a duty and a responsibility to participate in the process of electing such a candidate as the president. 82% of the voters had been casted their votes at the election which was held in the year 2019. So we are expecting a higher rate of voters in this election.
Election observers conduct investigations acts of election violence. Lot of cases on election violence were reported before as well as after nomination at the previous election but , such incidents has not been reported with regarding the election which is going to be held up in this year.
This atmosphere has been created as a result of collective efforts of the election commission, department of elections, philanthropic people and election observers.
A system called “Ape Chanda Salli Metare” has been introduced to monitor the amount of money spends by each candidate for their election campaign. According to that monitoring system, each presidential candidate can appoint one agent for the voting center and one agent for the counting center.
Being in a technologically developed era, as the first election which is going to be held after the election every Sri Lankan should intelligently utilise their democratic power.