History of Elections
The representative form of Government commenced in Sri Lanka more than a century ago. In 1931, with the introduction of universal franchise a new political enthusiasm was generated. In the absence of a specific institution to conduct elections at that stage, the responsibility was assigned to an existing institution on an ad hoc basis. Accordingly, a regular institution for the conduct of elections was not established until 1947.
At about this time a Commissioner and a Deputy were appointed to conduct Local Elections. The Government Agents were appointed to conduct the elections at the District Level. On this basis the FIRST Parliamentary General Election of 1947 was conducted by Mr. E.R. Sudbury.
Mr. P.O. Fernando and Mr. S.Amarasinghe were appointed as Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner (Local Elections) on October 1st, 1947. With the appointment of two clerks to assist them, a nucleus of a separate Department could be identified.
The very next year Seven Assistant Elections Officers and 14 additional officers were appointed. By this time an institutional framework had developed at the District-Level under the direction of Mr. V.L. Weerasinghe, as the Commissioner
On October 1st, 1955 the two departments in charge of Parliamentary and Local Elections were amalgamated to form a single department
Mr. A.Arulpragasam was appointed as the First Commissioner of the combined office. He succeeded Mr. G.P.Thambyah the Commissioner of Local Elections.
Then Third Parliamentary General Election of 1956 was conducted by Mr.A.Arulpragasam. On the retirement of Mr. Arulpragasam, the then Deputy Commissioner of Local Government Mr. E.F.Dias Abeyesinghe was appointed on March 07th,1957 as the Commissioner of Elections. During the tenure of Mr. Dias Abeysinghe the principle of a One day Parliamentary General Election was introduced with the 1960 March Election, followed by the July 1960 Elections. The system of formal recognition of political parties, the issue of Poll Cards, and Postal Voting for essential services were introduced at the time. Mr. Dias Abeyesinghe conducted the five Parliamentary General Elections in 1960 (March and June), 1965, 1970, and 1977. On his retirement in 1978, the then Deputy Commissioner, Mr. M.A. Piyasekera succeeded him on May 16th, 1978. The 1978 Constitution was introduced at this time, consequent to which several new election laws were adopted. A new system of Local Authorities called Development Councils was introduced. The Elections to these new Development Councils were held in 1981
When Mr. Piyasekera went on leave prior to retirement on February 1st, 1982, (retired on 17.02.1982) Mr. L.A.G.Jayasekera was appointed as the, acting Commissioner of Elections on 10.02.1982. In succession to Mr. M.A.Piyasekera Mr. S.M.L. Marikkar was appointed Commissioner of Elections on 25.03.1982 and due to his going on leave Mr. L.A.G. Jayasekera was appointed as acting Commissioner w.e.f. 26.03.1982. Subsequently on May 4th 1982 with the resignation of Mr. M.A. Piyasekera, Mr. R.K.Chandrananda de Silva assumed duties on 04.05.1982 as Commissioner of Elections. During this period new system Elections as adopted in 1978 Constitution came into operation. The Presidential Election and the Referendum came with this system. The Parliamentary General Elections Act was amended to include the system of Proportional Representation, and later in 1988 the marking of Preferences was introduced. These changes have made the electoral system more complicated.
Since its inception in 1947 - for nearly a half - a - century this Department has been housed in rented premises in four locations in the Colombo City. With the near two-fold increase in the strength of voters in the last decade and the different kinds of elections and their frequencies in the post -1978 period, the need for its own headquarters with adequate space and facilities, became an absolute necessity.
On the request of this Department, the Urban Development Authority offered several sites from which the site on Sarana Mawatha was selected. This site was meant to accommodate the Elections Secretariat (Office of the Commissioner of Elections) as well as a building for a branch of the Colombo District Office. The Urban Development Authority requested payment of an amount of Rs. 6.06 million to hand over the land. Later verification revealed that this was not a block of land on which the Urban Development Authority had spent any funds either for acquisition or improvement. It was a land managed by the Land Commissioner awaiting transfer to the U.D.A. When the Commissioner of Elections made representations to the former President J.R.Jayewardene that the above circumstances did not warrant them to seek such a payment where no cost has been incurred by them, the release of the land without any payment was ordered. Consequently the land , 0.5927 hectares in extent, was handed over to the Election Department by the Government Agent, Colombo District on 15th November 1984.
The Department of Buildings undertook the preparation of the building plan in 1985 and it was finalized by 4th January 1986. An amount of Rs. 12.0 million was estimated in 1987 for construction. But later this allocation was withdrawn due to financial constraints. Meanwhile due to cost escalations the estimates were revised. According to the revised estimates the cost of the building was identified as 45.9 million. On a request made to the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa approval was given to proceed with the construction. Funds were released in instalments of Rs. 0.4 million in 1990, Rs. 10 million in 1991, Rs. 20.2 million in 1992 and Rs. 14.6 million in 1993. There is a balance of Rs. 0.7 million to be paid in 1994. Foundation for the building was laid on 10.10.1991. Construction was completed in December, 1993. The new building provides 28,000 square feet of office space.
.Heralded by blowing of the conch-shell and the beating of Magul-bera, the "Gevadeema" (House Warming) of the New Secretariat was performed at 10.05 a.m. on Thursday, 23rd December 1993, with the boiling of traditional " pot of milk". Maha Sangha , led by the Most Venerable Madihe Pannaseeha Maha Nayake Thero, blessed the occasion with pirith-chanting. Immediately thereafter, the office of the Commissioner of Elections (Head Office) having left the fourth and the last of the rented-out premises at No. 2, Cambridge Terrace, Colombo 7, commenced work at the New Secretariat.
It was a very appropriate development that with the assumption of the office present commissioner Mr. Dayananda Dissanayake in 1995, the Department move into the domain of Information Technology. The new Commissioner was himself a practiced and qualified computer literate and he gave the lead. This has led to fundamental changes in internal operation of the Department. That is in itself a splendid result of the new Commissioner's vision and trust.
The representative form of Government commenced in Sri Lanka more than a century ago. In 1931, with the introduction of universal franchise a new political enthusiasm was generated. In the absence of a specific institution to conduct elections at that stage, the responsibility was assigned to an existing institution on an ad hoc basis. Accordingly, a regular institution for the conduct of elections was not established until 1947.
At about this time a Commissioner and a Deputy were appointed to conduct Local Elections. The Government Agents were appointed to conduct the elections at the District Level. On this basis the FIRST Parliamentary General Election of 1947 was conducted by Mr. E.R. Sudbury.
Mr. P.O. Fernando and Mr. S.Amarasinghe were appointed as Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner (Local Elections) on October 1st, 1947. With the appointment of two clerks to assist them, a nucleus of a separate Department could be identified.
The very next year Seven Assistant Elections Officers and 14 additional officers were appointed. By this time an institutional framework had developed at the District-Level under the direction of Mr. V.L. Weerasinghe, as the Commissioner
On October 1st, 1955 the two departments in charge of Parliamentary and Local Elections were amalgamated to form a single department
Mr. A.Arulpragasam was appointed as the First Commissioner of the combined office. He succeeded Mr. G.P.Thambyah the Commissioner of Local Elections.
Then Third Parliamentary General Election of 1956 was conducted by Mr.A.Arulpragasam. On the retirement of Mr. Arulpragasam, the then Deputy Commissioner of Local Government Mr. E.F.Dias Abeyesinghe was appointed on March 07th,1957 as the Commissioner of Elections. During the tenure of Mr. Dias Abeysinghe the principle of a One day Parliamentary General Election was introduced with the 1960 March Election, followed by the July 1960 Elections. The system of formal recognition of political parties, the issue of Poll Cards, and Postal Voting for essential services were introduced at the time. Mr. Dias Abeyesinghe conducted the five Parliamentary General Elections in 1960 (March and June), 1965, 1970, and 1977. On his retirement in 1978, the then Deputy Commissioner, Mr. M.A. Piyasekera succeeded him on May 16th, 1978. The 1978 Constitution was introduced at this time, consequent to which several new election laws were adopted. A new system of Local Authorities called Development Councils was introduced. The Elections to these new Development Councils were held in 1981
When Mr. Piyasekera went on leave prior to retirement on February 1st, 1982, (retired on 17.02.1982) Mr. L.A.G.Jayasekera was appointed as the, acting Commissioner of Elections on 10.02.1982. In succession to Mr. M.A.Piyasekera Mr. S.M.L. Marikkar was appointed Commissioner of Elections on 25.03.1982 and due to his going on leave Mr. L.A.G. Jayasekera was appointed as acting Commissioner w.e.f. 26.03.1982. Subsequently on May 4th 1982 with the resignation of Mr. M.A. Piyasekera, Mr. R.K.Chandrananda de Silva assumed duties on 04.05.1982 as Commissioner of Elections. During this period new system Elections as adopted in 1978 Constitution came into operation. The Presidential Election and the Referendum came with this system. The Parliamentary General Elections Act was amended to include the system of Proportional Representation, and later in 1988 the marking of Preferences was introduced. These changes have made the electoral system more complicated.
Since its inception in 1947 - for nearly a half - a - century this Department has been housed in rented premises in four locations in the Colombo City. With the near two-fold increase in the strength of voters in the last decade and the different kinds of elections and their frequencies in the post -1978 period, the need for its own headquarters with adequate space and facilities, became an absolute necessity.
On the request of this Department, the Urban Development Authority offered several sites from which the site on Sarana Mawatha was selected. This site was meant to accommodate the Elections Secretariat (Office of the Commissioner of Elections) as well as a building for a branch of the Colombo District Office. The Urban Development Authority requested payment of an amount of Rs. 6.06 million to hand over the land. Later verification revealed that this was not a block of land on which the Urban Development Authority had spent any funds either for acquisition or improvement. It was a land managed by the Land Commissioner awaiting transfer to the U.D.A. When the Commissioner of Elections made representations to the former President J.R.Jayewardene that the above circumstances did not warrant them to seek such a payment where no cost has been incurred by them, the release of the land without any payment was ordered. Consequently the land , 0.5927 hectares in extent, was handed over to the Election Department by the Government Agent, Colombo District on 15th November 1984.
The Department of Buildings undertook the preparation of the building plan in 1985 and it was finalized by 4th January 1986. An amount of Rs. 12.0 million was estimated in 1987 for construction. But later this allocation was withdrawn due to financial constraints. Meanwhile due to cost escalations the estimates were revised. According to the revised estimates the cost of the building was identified as 45.9 million. On a request made to the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa approval was given to proceed with the construction. Funds were released in instalments of Rs. 0.4 million in 1990, Rs. 10 million in 1991, Rs. 20.2 million in 1992 and Rs. 14.6 million in 1993. There is a balance of Rs. 0.7 million to be paid in 1994. Foundation for the building was laid on 10.10.1991. Construction was completed in December, 1993. The new building provides 28,000 square feet of office space.
.Heralded by blowing of the conch-shell and the beating of Magul-bera, the "Gevadeema" (House Warming) of the New Secretariat was performed at 10.05 a.m. on Thursday, 23rd December 1993, with the boiling of traditional " pot of milk". Maha Sangha , led by the Most Venerable Madihe Pannaseeha Maha Nayake Thero, blessed the occasion with pirith-chanting. Immediately thereafter, the office of the Commissioner of Elections (Head Office) having left the fourth and the last of the rented-out premises at No. 2, Cambridge Terrace, Colombo 7, commenced work at the New Secretariat.
It was a very appropriate development that with the assumption of the office present commissioner Mr. Dayananda Dissanayake in 1995, the Department move into the domain of Information Technology. The new Commissioner was himself a practiced and qualified computer literate and he gave the lead. This has led to fundamental changes in internal operation of the Department. That is in itself a splendid result of the new Commissioner's vision and trust.