The Chairman of the Election Commission, R.M.A.L. Ratnayake, announced that vote counting for the general election will begin at 4:15 p.m. on November 14.
Speaking at a special press briefing held today (12) at the Department of Government Information, Ratnayake provided updates on the election process. He emphasized that results from polling areas and district-level results will only be released to the media after thorough verification and approval by the Election Commission. He urged everyone to avoid sharing unofficial election results.
“Arrangements have been made to start counting postal votes at 4:15 p.m. on November 14. The counting of regular votes will commence once the ballot boxes are received from the respective polling stations, around 7:15 p.m., after the official procedures are completed. The results will then be released to the media. Until then, everyone is requested not to circulate unofficial results,” he stated.
Ratnayake outlined the detailed vote-counting process, which will be conducted in three stages:
“The counting of votes is carried out in three phases. First, we count the votes in each ballot box. Then, the total votes for each recognized political party and independent group are tallied. Based on those counts, the number of Members of Parliament (MPs) that can be elected from each party or group is calculated. Finally, the preferential votes for each candidate are counted, and the candidates with the highest number of votes are elected as MPs,” he explained.
The Election Commission Chairman reiterated that candidates will be elected to the position of MP based on the highest number of votes they receive from their respective parties and independent groups.
