Ballot boxes to be placed in containers sealed and signed before counting begins the next day

For the first time, political parties and independent groups have been requested to send two representatives to each counting centre to stay overnight on August 5 until the counting begins the following morning.

Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya told the Sunday Times the move was to ensure transparency in the whole electoral process amidst concerns of ballot box rigging as the counting process would begin only at 8 the following morning.

“The representatives can stay through the night and observe what’s happening inside the counting centres.

Our Election Department officials and police officers will also be there to ensure the security of the ballot boxes,” Mr Deshapriya said.

In addition to this, the EC has taken another extraordinary step. It will put the sealed ballot boxes into a mega size cardboard container and seal it once again with the signatures of party representatives and officials. As a special security step, polling station staff will be required to sign a document and paste it around the ballot box before sending it to a counting centre.

“We are going to keep the sealed ballot boxes in a big cardboard container inside the counting center and seal the container since there will be no one in charge of the ballot boxes for about 15 hours,” Mr. Deshapriya said.

He said the EC tried, till the last moment, to ensure those who were currently undergoing the quarantine process would be able to vote but due to legal barriers which prevented ‘ advance voting’, the EC was forced it to drop the initiative.

Unlike any other election, this time conducting polls might cost at least Rs 10 billion with the new requirement for safety measures such as protective gloves and hand sanitizers. Earlier before the pandemic, the cost was estimated at Rs 7 billion.

The chairman said the EC was also exploring the possibility of deploying health officials at counting centres to monitor whether the health guidelines were properly adhered to.

He also said he was expecting a voter turnout of about 75 percent, compared to 83.7 percent at the presidential election. At the 2015 parliamentary elections, the turnout was 77.66.

“We are going to keep the sealed ballot boxes in a big cardboard container inside the counting center and seal the container since there will be no one in charge of the ballot boxes for about 15 hours,”