The Commissioner General of Elections, Saman Sri Ratnayake, has announced that postal voting applications for the upcoming parliamentary elections will be accepted from September 30 to October 7.

Speaking at a media conference held in Colombo today (26), Ratnayake explained that the 2024 voter list will be used for this election, just as it was for the recent presidential election. As a result, those who submitted postal vote applications for the presidential election do not need to reapply for postal voting in this election.

“In this election, as we are using the same voter list, there is no need for those who applied for postal voting in the last election to submit applications again. We have all your data on record,” Ratnayake assured.

However, he clarified that individuals whose postal vote applications were rejected in the previous election must resolve the issue that caused the rejection and reapply for postal voting. Those applicants will need to submit a new application.

Ratnayake further stated that individuals who did not submit postal vote applications for the last presidential election but belong to service categories expected to be employed for election duties will also have the opportunity to submit postal vote applications for this election.

He also made a specific request to Certifying Officers, urging them to inform officers in writing about the transfer, retirement, or death of certified voters under their supervision. The Assistant Returning Officers in each district will collect the relevant information regarding new eligible voters.

With the commencement of the parliamentary elections, the same rules and procedures followed during the last presidential election will remain in effect.

A total of 1,714,354 voters listed in the 2024 electoral roll are eligible to cast their votes on November 14.

In consideration of students sitting for the G.C.E. Advanced Level examination this year, the Election Commission has decided to conduct the election within the shortest possible timeframe.