Elections are apparently around the corner. In just a few days, the National Elections Commission (EC)will be empowered to call nominations and polling dates for the Presidential Election (PE), which has to be held on any date from September 16 to October 17, 2024, though usually all elections are now held on Saturdays. This is to minimise the inconvenience caused to schools and temples which are used as polling stations.
Sri Lankans have enjoyed the universal franchise since 1931, long before gaining Independence. Moreover, women were allowed to vote right from the start, whereas even many developed countries extended that facility to women much later. Switzerland allowed women to vote for the first time just 53 years ago, while Saudi Arabia did so only in 2015. Sri Lanka has had democratically elected Governments throughout and the closest attempt at a military coup was nipped in the bud in 1962.
Our focus in this editorial is not the PE or the General Election (GE) per se. There still are many lacunae or shortcomings in our electoral system, which have to be rectified at least within the next five years, regardless of who or what party comes to power. These steps could lead to better elections in many ways and huge savings as well.
If you still remember the TV visuals from the 2019 PE, there were many instances of Sri Lankans domiciled abroad coming over to vote in-person in Sri Lanka for their preferred candidate. Some of them had spent well over US$ 2,000 on air tickets alone. But what if they could vote from their adopted countries without coming down here?
In fact, several countries allow their citizens domiciled abroad – even those who have no intention of going back to their home country – to vote remotely, mostly at a makeshift polling station set up at the Embassies in overseas capitals. The time has come to extend the voting facility to Sri Lankans temporarily or permanently living abroad (those having dual citizenship in this case). Sri Lankan embassies in world capitals can be used as polling stations. In case one cannot find a Sri Lankan embassy in the country of residence, it might still be more affordable to go to the nearest country that has a Sri Lankan Embassy, rather than coming all the way to Sri Lanka.
Right now, Postal Voting (PV) is restricted to public Servants including Police personnel who have to be on election duty. However, in most other countries the PV option is available to several other categories such as the differently-ableed, the infirm and even professionals in the public/private sectors such as doctors, nurses, media personnel, airport, airline, railway and port staff who might not be able to leave their workplaces to vote even if they are given the mandatory half-day voting leave. This should be seriously considered by the EC and the Government.
Postal or in-person, elections in Sri Lanka consume vast quantities of paper. Sometimes even the ballot paper itself is nearly 25 inches long. “Going paperless” has been a slogan for nearly 10 years now, but Sri Lanka is still very much obsessed with paper and the elections are no exception. There is an answer which can prevent this horrendous waste of paper- electronic voting (e-Voting), which is already implemented in many countries from Brazil to India. It is not entirely foolproof (no voting system is), but the lack of paperwork and the ease of counting can expedite the declaration of results. Some countries have even experimented with at-home e-Voting, especially for disabled persons.
While paper forms a component of the Rs.10 billion usually needed to conduct an election in Sri Lanka, there are many other factors such as transport, allowances, security, overheads and meals that make up this massive amount which a country like Sri Lanka can ill afford. Many election observers have suggested that the EC should hold at least the PE and GE on the same day, while holding the Local Government (LG) and Provincial Council (PC) polls together on another day. This will lead to a huge saving for the Exchequer, which is hard pressed to find funds for successive elections during an economic crunch. This is practised in many countries including the US, where both the President and Congress Members are elected once every four years.
It is also vital to bring in electoral laws to change the present Proportional Representation (PR) system to a mixture of both PR and the First-Past-the-Post (FPP) system without further delay. Today, politics has become a violent, volatile and money-driven field that keeps away many professionally qualified and educated candidates, especially females. After all, under PR a candidate’s election propaganda campaign has to cover an entire district, not just a particular electorate. Thus only rich candidates or candidates who can get money from other sources (such as corrupt businessmen) can enter the fray, depriving others who may be more suitable. The UK is a prime example where FPP works successfully. The EC also needs to implement the new Campaign Financing laws from at least the next elections cycle to deter candidates who spend too lavishly with almost no limits. Election spending, after all, is the origin of corruption in politics.
Elections are the cornerstone of democracy in any country. If methods can be found to make them less costly, more accessible and more efficient, such approaches should be pursued with vigour.
