Voting for the 9th Executive President of Sri Lanka began today (September 21), with the Chairman of the Election Commission, Mr. R.M.A.L. Rathnayake, urging voters to cast their ballots early. Polling commenced at 7:00 am and will continue until 4:00 pm at 13,421 polling stations across the country.
This election features the largest number of candidates in Sri Lankan presidential history, with 39 individuals initially running. However, following the death of one candidate, Mr. Mohammad Illayas, the number was reduced to 38. A total of 17,140,354 voters are eligible to participate in the election.
The Gampaha district has the highest number of registered voters among the 22 electoral districts, with 1,881,129 voters. The Colombo district follows with 1,765,351 registered voters, and the Kurunegala district has 1,417,226. Other notable districts include Kandy (1,191,399), Kalutara (1,024,244), Ratnapura (923,736), and Galle (903,163).
The number of registered voters in other districts includes Anuradhapura (741,862), Kegalle (709,622), Badulla (705,772), and Matara (686,175). Puttalam district has 663,673 voters, and Nuwara Eliya district has 605,292.
In the Jaffna electoral district, which includes Jaffna and Kilinochchi, 593,187 voters are eligible to vote. Digamadulla district has 555,432 registered voters, Hambantota district has 520,940, and Batticaloa district has 449,686 voters. Matale district has 429,991 registered voters, while Monaragala district has 399,166.
Polonnaruwa district has 351,302 voters, and Trincomalee district has 315,925. The electoral district with the fewest voters is the one that includes Vavuniya, Mannar, and Mullaitivu, with 306,081 registered voters. The Homagama constituency in Colombo district has the highest number of registered voters for this year’s election, with 215,075 eligible voters.
