Voter turnout comparison of 2015 and 2019 Presidential Elections

The overall voter turnout closed to 80 percent as the Presidential Election 2019 was carried out at 12,845 polling stations across the country.

Compared to the previous Presidential Election in 2015, a decline in voter turnout was observed at the Presidential Election this year.

However, it must be noted that the voter turnout at a majority of the districts exceeded 70 percent, this election.

The voter turnout in the district of Kegalle has fallen to 79% this year from 83.60% of 2015.

Monaragala district recorded an 80 percent voter turnout this year, a clear decline from the 2015’s 83.75 percent.

However, the Ampara district saw an increase in the voter turnout since the last Presidential election as the voter percentage rose from 77.39% to 80%.

The voter turnout in the Hambantota district this year has gone down from over 84.13% in 2015 to 75%-80%.

Vanni Electoral District indicates a considerable increase in the turnout as the percentage had risen from 72.57% in 2015 to 74.34% this year.

The voter turnout in Jaffna indicates only a slight difference as numbers indicate a 66% voter turnout in 2019 compared to 66.28% in 2015.

Batticaloa district has seen a major increase in the voter turnout as the percentage has jumped to 77% from only a 70.97% back in 2015.
Trincomalee district has also experienced an increase in the number of voters as the 2015 Presidential Election recorded a percentage of 76.76% which hiked to 80% this year.

The voter turnout of the Kurunegala district had gone down to 80% this year from 82.98% in 2015.

Puttalam district records a voter turnout percentage of 75% while it recorded only 73.81% at the last Presidential Election.

There is a decrease in the voter turnout percentage in the Polonnaruwa district, falling from 83.94% to 80% this year.

Badulla district’s voter turnout is estimated to be 80% this year while it recorded 82.99% in 2015.

Ratnapura district indicated 84.90% during the past Presidential Election and 84% this year.

Colombo district has reportedly had a voter turnout between 75 to 80 percent whereas the district indicated a turnout of 82.67%.

Gampaha district voter turnout has declined slightly as it recorded 82.88% in 2015while it has been estimated that only 81% voted this year.

Kalutara district indicates a considerable decrease in turnout; the district had a turnout of 84.73% in 2015 and 80% in 2019.

The voter turnout in Kandy has fallen to just 80% in 2019 from 82.63% in 2015. Meanwhile, Matale voter turnout indicates a decline; a fall from 82.35% at the last presidential election to 80% this year.

Nuwara Eliya district recorded a voter turnout of 80%, a slight decline from 2015’s 81.27%.

Galle and Matara districts both recorded 80% voter turnout this year while in 2015, the two districts respectively recorded 83.49% and 83.36% in 2015.

Anuradhapura district, too, has seen a decline in the voter turnout as it had recorded 83.10% back in 2015 and 80% in 2019.