The ’’too close to call’’ Presidential poll today

• Leading trio on their own right have equal chances to emerge triumphant
• Country yearns for strong mandate in decisive and most unpredictable poll given current status and challenges ahead
• Victory by either would be termed as surprise or upset considering claims and odds within which they competed in the run-up
• Litmus test for incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe whether people truly believe he steered country to stability from an unprecedented crisis
• Sajith Premadasa faces challenge of proving himself as ideal successor
• Hype versus reality check for Anura Kumara Dissanayake
• Performance of Namal Rajapaksa, Dilith Jayaweera, Janaka Ratnayake, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and Sarath Fonseka under closer scrutiny 

An election too close to call to pick the country’s ninth Executive President kicks off today morning with wide expectations for a strong mandate for the best and a peaceful conclusion.

The highly competitive election involving 38 candidates is also decisive given the country’s current status and challenges ahead, according to analysts.

On record there are 17.14 million registered voters and the forecast for their turnout is mixed with some terming high whilst others speculating a degree of no-show given their disappointment with politics.

Given the equal match of leading candidates the social media has been abuzz with unverified surveys whilst some hopefuls have had their share of hype too.

For incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe it will be a litmus test whether people truly believed he steered the country to stability from an unprecedented crisis. Sajith Premadasa will be faced with the challenge of proving himself as the ideal successor whilst Anura Kumara Dissanayake will have to reaffirm it wasn’t just hype but there was indeed groundswell support for him. In the previous Presidential elections he failed to prove so. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s successor MP Namal Rajapaksa would prefer to showcase that SLPP though down is not out. Other candidates whose performances are closely observed would be lawyer-turned-entrepreneur-turned politician Dilith Jayaweera, businessman Janaka Ratnayake, former Justice Minister Wijeyadasha Rajapakshe and previously failed Presidential hopeful and former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka in this year’s biggest ever race for Presidency.

Despite different surveys showing the three candidates are leading, according to most analysts the trio on their own right have equal chances to emerge triumphant. In many sense, victory by either of the three, would be termed as surprise or an upset considering the claims and odds within which they competed up to yesterday.

The run up to today’s poll was full of swings in terms perceptions and each camp saying their candidate will win without having to go for the second count with most expecting the occurrence of the latter.

The 2024 Presidential Election was fought mostly on economic and development issues whilst the Opposition threw in corruption and good governance too. The digital campaigns were fraught with fake news, insulting and funny memes, and use of bots apart from straight forward and innovative messaging.

The calibre of the candidates and growing polarisation also saw a substantial part of voters categorised into “undecided.” All in all the 2024 election up to yesterday remained the most unpredictable. 

There have been concerns over the post-election phase including speculation of curfew to ensure a more definitive violence-free environment and transition if there were to be one. For the people and the country at large, a free, fair and peaceful poll is critical as the foremost immediate challenge. The political deals for the next contest – Parliamentary election should be secondary.

As in the previous years, security has been tightened today in and around 13,421 polling stations despite the campaigning period being peaceful sans any major incidents. However there had been over 5,000 complaints of violations.

Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake, confirmed that all necessary preparations for the poll have been completed. Over 150,000 Government officials have been deployed to manage the polling stations, ensuring a smooth voting process. Additionally, nearly 1,000 officials, including chief counting officers, have been sent from districts such as Colombo to oversee operations in remote provinces.

To guarantee the security of both ballot boxes and election officials, police have deployed more than 63,000 officers nationwide. Police Media Spokesperson DIG Nihal Talduwa stated that special traffic plans have been implemented around polling stations to maintain safety and order throughout the day.

Voters are required to bring their polling card along with a valid form of identification. Acceptable forms include the national identity card, driver’s license, passport, elderly ID card, pensioner’s ID card, or clergy ID card. Special temporary IDs issued by the Elections Commission through Grama Niladhari officers are also permitted for voting, particularly for those with disabilities.

For those who have not yet received their official ballot papers, post offices will remain open today. Postmaster General Ruwan Sathkumara reported that around 300,000 ballot papers remain in post offices across the country, ready for collection.

Both local and international election observers are stationed across all nine provinces to monitor the voting process. These teams have been tracking pre-election preparations and will continue their observations from the opening of polls at 7 a.m. until the conclusion of voting at 4 p.m. They will also oversee the vote-counting process and tabulation of results after the polls close.