Silent period begins for Sri Lanka’s 2024 Parliamentary Election – Security measures in place

The silent period for Sri Lanka’s 2024 parliamentary election began at midnight on November 11, 2024, following the end of the campaigning period.

The silent period will remain in effect until November 14, 2024.

Commissioner General of Elections, Saman Sri Ratnayake, urged all candidates to follow election laws and regulations during this time.

Ratnayake also confirmed that all preparations for the election have been completed.

A total of 17,140,354 voters are eligible to vote. Registered voters who have not yet received their polling cards can download them from the National Election Commission’s website.

Security arrangements for the election are in place, with the transportation of ballot boxes to polling stations set to begin on November 13, 2024. Nearly 200,000 state sector employees have been assigned election duties.

A total of 8,361 candidates are contesting the election, with 5,015 from political parties and 3,346 as independents.

Police Spokesman, DIG Nihal Thalduwa, confirmed that approximately 64,000 police officers will be deployed for election security.

They will cover all 13,383 polling stations across 13,314 electoral divisions.

Additionally, 3,200 officers from the police Special Task Force (STF) and 12,227 civil security officers will be involved.

The total number of police officers dedicated to ensuring election security will be around 70,000.

To maintain security in other areas during the election, about 11,000 army personnel will be deployed.

DIG Thalduwa urged the public to support the peaceful conduct of the election.