Elections in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka elects on the national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature. Sri Lanka has a multi-party system, with two dominant political parties. All elections are administered by the Election Commission of Sri Lanka.

President

See also: List of presidential elections in Sri Lanka

The president is directly elected for a five-year term, through a version of Instant-runoff voting in which electors rank up to three candidates, and limited to only two rounds in total. If no candidate wins a majority in the first round of voting, second and third preferences from ballots whose first preference candidate has been eliminated are used to determine the winner. However, there was never an instance where a "run-off" count was needed since the introduction of directly elected president in the 1980s until the 2024 election. No candidate reached 50% in the first count in that election, so the second count was performed.

Parliament

The Parliament has 225 members, elected for a five-year term, 196 members elected in multi-seat constituencies through proportional representation system where each party is allocated a number of seats from the quota for each district according to the proportion of the total vote that party obtains in the district. The other 29 which is called the national list are appointed by each party secretary according to the island wide proportional vote the party obtains.

Local Government

The Local government bodies in Sri Lanka;

• Municipal Councils
• Urban Councils
• Pradeshiya Sabha

are elected through the mixed electoral system.

Latest elections

2024 presidential election

Main article: 2024 Sri Lankan presidential election

Candidate		Party	First preference		Total votes
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Anura Kumara Dissanayake	National People's Power	5,634,915	42.31	5,740,179	55.89
	Sajith Premadasa	Samagi Jana Balawegaya	4,363,035	32.76	4,530,902	44.11
	Ranil Wickremesinghe	Independent	2,299,767	17.27
	Namal Rajapaksa	Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	342,781	2.57
	P. Ariyanethiran	Independent	226,343	1.70
	Dilith Jayaweera	Communist Party of Sri Lanka	122,396	0.92
	K. K. Piyadasa	Independent	47,543	0.36
	D. M. Bandaranayake	Independent	30,660	0.23
	Sarath Fonseka	Independent	22,407	0.17
	Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe	National Democratic Front	21,306	0.16
	Anuruddha Polgampola	Independent	15,411	0.12
	Sarath Keerthirathne	Independent	15,187	0.11
	K. R. Krishan	Arunalu People's Front	13,595	0.10
	Suranjeewa Anoj de Silva	Democratic United National Front	12,898	0.10
	Priyantha Wickremesinghe	Nava Sama Samaja Party	12,760	0.10
	Namal Rajapaksha	Samabima Party	12,700	0.10
	Akmeemana Dayarathana Thero	Independent	11,536	0.09
	Nuwan Bopege	Socialist People's Forum	11,191	0.08
	Ajantha de Zoyza	Ruhunu People's Party	10,548	0.08
	Victor Anthony Perera	Independent	10,374	0.08
	Siripala Amarasinghe	Independent	9,035	0.07
	Siritunga Jayasuriya	United Socialist Party	8,954	0.07
	Battaramulle Seelarathana Thero	People's Welfare Front	6,839	0.05
	Abubakar Mohamed Infaz	Democratic Unity Alliance	6,531	0.05
	Pemasiri Manage	Independent	5,822	0.04
	Mahinda Dewage	Socialist Party of Sri Lanka	5,338	0.04
	Keerthi Wickremeratne	Our People's Power Party	4,676	0.04
	Pani Wijesiriwardena	Socialist Equality Party	4,410	0.03
	Oshala Herath	New Independent Front	4,253	0.03
	Roshan Ranasinghe	Independent	4,205	0.03
	P. W. S. K. Bandaranayake	National Development Front	4,070	0.03
	Ananda Kularatne	Independent	4,013	0.03
	Lalith de Silva	United National Freedom Front	3,004	0.02
	Sidney Jayarathna	Independent	2,799	0.02
	Janaka Ratnayake	United Lanka People's Party	2,405	0.02
	M. Thilakarajah	Independent	2,138	0.02
	Sarath Manamendra	New Sinhala Heritage	1,911	0.01
	A. S. P. Liyanage	Sri Lanka Labour Party	1,860	0.01
Total			13,319,616	100.00	10,271,081	100.00
Valid votes			13,319,616	97.80	10,271,081	75.41
Invalid/blank votes			300,300	2.20	3,348,835	24.59
Total votes			13,619,916	100.00	13,619,916	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			17,140,354	79.46	17,140,354	79.46
Source: Election Commission of Sri Lanka

2024 parliamentary election

Main article: 2024 Sri Lankan parliamentary election

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's National People's Power alliance won 159 of the 225 seats, securing a two-thirds majority in the Parliament. This surge in the NPP's seat count from three in the previous Parliament marks a shift in Sri Lankan politics. Reports suggest that Dissanayake's campaign focused on anti-corruption, social welfare, and economic revival amidst the country's economic crisis resonated with voters.

In the north and east, a decrease in support amongst Tamil and Muslim voters for traditional ethnic parties were given to be the reason for the NPP's success.

The main opposition alliance, Sajith Premadasa's Samagi Jana Balawegaya, won 40 seats, a decrease from the previous election. Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe's New Democratic Front secured 5 seats, while former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna collapsed from 145 seats in the previous election, winning 3 seats.

National

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				District	National	Total	±
	National People's Power	6,863,186	61.56	141	18	159	+156
	Samagi Jana Balawegaya	1,968,716	17.66	35	5	40	−14
	New Democratic Front	500,835	4.49	3	2	5	+5
	Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	350,429	3.14	2	1	3	−97
	Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi	257,813	2.31	7	1	8	+8
	Sarvajana Balaya	178,006	1.60	0	1	1	+1
	Sri Lanka Muslim Congress	87,038	0.78	2	1	3	+2
	United Democratic Voice	83,488	0.75	0	0	0	New
	United National Party	66,234	0.59	1	0	1	0
	Democratic Tamil National Alliance	65,382	0.59	1	0	1	New
	Democratic Left Front	50,836	0.46	0	0	0	0
	Democratic National Alliance	45,419	0.41	0	0	0	New
	Tamil National People's Front	39,894	0.36	1	0	1	0
	Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal	34,440	0.31	0	0	0	−1
	All Ceylon Makkal Congress	33,911	0.30	1	0	1	0
	People's Struggle Alliance	29,611	0.27	0	0	0	0
	Eelam People's Democratic Party	28,985	0.26	0	0	0	−2
	Jaffna – Independent Group 17	30,637	0.27	1	0	1	+1
	National Democratic Front	25,444	0.23	0	0	0	0
	United National Alliance	22,548	0.20	0	0	0	New
	Sri Lanka Labour Party	17,710	0.16	1	0	1	+1
	Devana Parapura	16,950	0.15	0	0	0	New
	Thamizh Makkal Koottani	13,295	0.12	0	0	0	New
	Jana Setha Peramuna	12,743	0.11	0	0	0	0
	National Front for Good Governance	8,447	0.08	0	0	0	New
	United National Freedom Front	7,796	0.07	0	0	0	New
	Arunalu Peoples Alliance	7,666	0.07	0	0	0	New
	New Independent Front	7,182	0.06	0	0	0	New
	National People's Party	6,307	0.06	0	0	0	0
	Our Power of People's Party	6,043	0.05	0	0	0	−1
	Tamil United Liberation Front	5,061	0.05	0	0	0	0
	Democratic United National Front	4,480	0.04	0	0	0	0
	Samabima Party	4,449	0.04	0	0	0	New
	Patriotic People's Power	3,985	0.04	0	0	0	New
	Eros Democratic Front	2,865	0.03	0	0	0	New
	Democratic Unity Alliance	2,198	0.02	0	0	0	0
	Socialist Party of Sri Lanka	2,087	0.02	0	0	0	0
	Jathika Sangwardhena Peramuna	1,920	0.02	0	0	0	0
	United Socialist Party	1,838	0.02	0	0	0	0
	Socialist Equality Party	864	0.01	0	0	0	0
	Freedom People's Front	841	0.01	0	0	0	New
	United Peace Alliance	822	0.01	0	0	0	0
	Lanka Janatha Party	759	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Eksath Lanka Podujana Pakshaya	659	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Liberal Democratic Party	635	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Nawa Lanka Nidahas Pakshaya	601	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Nava Sama Samaja Party	491	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Akhila Ilankai Tamil Mahasabha	450	0.00	0	0	0	0
	Democratic Party	283	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya	269	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Independents	245,458	2.20	0	0	0	0
Total		11,148,006	100.00	196	29	225	0
Valid votes		11,148,006	94.35
Invalid/blank votes		667,240	5.65
Total votes		11,815,246	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		17,140,354	68.93
Source: Election Commission of Sri Lanka,

District

Districts won by NPP

Districts won by ITAK

District results for the 2024 Sri Lankan parliamentary election
Province	Electoral District	NPP			SJB			ITAK			NDF			SLPP			Others			Total			Turnout
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total Polled	Registered Electors	Seats
Western	Colombo	788,636	68.63%	14	208,249	18.12%	4	–	–	–	51,020	4.44%	–	34,880	3.04%	–	66,340	5.47%	–	1,211,738	1,765,351	18	68.64%
Western	Gampaha	898,759	72.76%	16	150,445	12.18%	3	–	–	–	47,512	3.85%	–	49,516	4.01%	–	89,080	7.20%	–	1,306,952	1,881,129	19	69.48%
Western	Kalutara	452,398	66.09%	8	128,932	18.84%	2	–	–	–	34,257	5.00%	1	27,072	3.96%	–	41,833	6.11%	–	721,461	1,024,244	11	70.44%
Central	Kandy	500,596	64.60%	9	145,939	18.83%	2	–	–	–	50,889	6.57%	1	15,762	2.03%	–	61,729	7.97%	–	61,012	1,191,399	12	70.16%
Central	Matale	181,678	66.16%	4	53,200	19.37%	1	–	–	–	13,353	4.86%	–	10,150	3.70%	–	16,220	5.91%	–	297,238	429,991	5	69.13%
Central	Nuwara Eliya	161,167	41.57%	5	101,589	26.21%	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	6,123	1.58%	–	118,686	30.64%	1	429,851	605,292	8	71.02%
Southern	Galle	406,428	68.07%	7	93,486	15.66%	1	–	–	–	30,453	5.10%	–	31,201	5.23%	1	35,523	8.94%	–	620,165	903,163	9	68.67%
Southern	Matara	317,541	69.83%	6	74,475	16.38%	1	–	–	–	31,009	6.82%	–	9,432	2.07%	–	22,277	4.90%	–	476,407	686,175	7	69.43%
Southern	Hambantota	234,083	66.38%	5	52,170	14.79%	1	–	–	–	18,297	5.19%	–	26,268	7.45%	1	17,039	6.19%	–	369,700	520,940	7	70.97%
Northern	Jaffna	80,830	24.85%	3	15,276	4.70%	–	63,327	19.47%	1	–	–	–	582	0.18%	–	165,297	50.80%	2	358,079	593,187	6	60.37%
Northern	Vanni	39,894	20.37%	2	32,232	16.45%	1	29,711	15.17%	1	–	–	–	805	0.41%	–	93,244	52.88%	2	211,140	306,081	6	68.98%
Eastern	Batticaloa	55,498	19.33%	1	22,570	7.86%	–	96,975	33.78%	3	559	0.19%	–	263	0.09%	–	111,188	38.75%	1	302,382	449,686	5	67.24%
Eastern	Ampara	146,313	40.32%	4	32,320	8.91%	–	33,632	9.27%	1	33,544	9.24%	–	6,654	1.83%	–	110,461	30.43%	2	380,523	555,432	7	68.51%
Eastern	Trincomalee	87,031	42.48%	2	53,058	25.90%	1	34,168	16.68%	1	9,387	4.58%	–	1,399	0.68%	–	19,845	9.68%	–	218,425	315,925	4	69.14%
North Western	Kurunegala	651,476	69.56%	12	189,394	20.22%	3	–	–	–	30,073	3.21%	–	35,236	3.76%	–	30,436	3.25%	–	978,927	1,417,226	15	69.07%
North Western	Puttalam	239,576	63.10%	6	65,679	17.30%	2	–	–	–	15,741	4.15%	–	14,624	3.85%	–	44,061	11.60%	–	410,853	663,673	8	61.91%
North Central	Anuradhapura	331,692	67.22%	7	98,176	19.90%	2	–	–	–	29,961	6.07%	–	11,248	2.28%	–	29,115	4.53%	–	522,533	741,862	9	70.44%
North Central	Polonnaruwa	159,010	68.67%	4	43,822	18.92%	1	–	–	–	5,153	2.23%	–	4,646	2.01%	–	19,928	8.17%	–	240,145	351,302	5	68.36%
Uva	Badulla	275,180	58.59%	6	102,958	21.92%	2	–	–	–	36,450	7.76%	1	11,255	2.40%	–	43,863	9.33%	–	503,724	705,772	9	71.37%
Uva	Monaragala	174,730	64.27%	5	62,014	22.81%	1	–	–	–	10,697	3.93%	–	11,624	4.28%	–	12,791	4.71%	–	12,991	399,166	6	71.36%
Sabaragamuwa	Ratnapura	368,229	61.75%	8	133,041	22.31%	3	–	–	–	26,171	4.39%	–	29,316	4.92%	–	39,613	6.63%	–	633,440	923,736	11	68.57%
Sabaragamuwa	Kegalle	312,441	64.80%	7	109,691	22.75%	2	–	–	–	26,309	5.46%	–	12,373	2.57%	–	21,337	4.42%	–	500,789	709,622	9	70.57%
National List		—		18	—		5	—		1	—		2	—		1	—		2	—		29	—
Total		6,863,186	61.56%	159	1,968,716	17.66%	40	257,813	2.31%	8	500,835	4.49%	5	350,429	3.14%	3	1,207,027	10.22%	10	11,815,246	17,140,354	225	68.93%

Seat changes

List of MPs who lost their seat

District	Incumbent				Held since
	Party		Member	Offices held
Kurunegala		SLPP	Johnston Fernando	Minister of Highways	2000

See also

• Electoral calendar
• Electoral system

External links

• Department of Elections
• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• www.Srilankanelections.com - A website featuring Sri Lankan elections and results.