Colombo, Sept 20: Altogether 32 short-term observers have been sent by the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to every electoral district in Sri Lanka for the presidential election scheduled for Saturday, the EU EOM said.
The EU observers will watch the election day procedures, including the opening of polling places, voting, and ballot counting, as well as the tallying of results, during the silent campaign period.
“The short-term observers who are reinforcing our mission today will visit towns and villages in all nine provinces of Sri Lanka, and their observations will be vital for the mission to make a comprehensive, well-informed assessment of this very important election day,” Inta Lase, Deputy Chief Observer of the EU EOM Sri Lanka 2024, said in a statement.
“The presence of our observers in every district counting and tabulation centre underlines our commitment to transparency in the electoral process.”
The EU EOM short-term observers will operate in international teams of two, building on a previous deployment of 26 long-term observers who have been watching election preparations and campaign environments in all provinces of Sri Lanka since August 29.
As of Wednesday (18), the Sri Lanka Election Commission had received over 5,000 complaints about election breaches and reported that 4,300 of them had been settled, according to Economynext.
“Our commitment extends to offering an informed, fact-based assessment of the electoral process against the national law, as well as regional and international standards Sri Lanka has signed up to,” Lase said.
“In its work, the EU EOM is strictly adhering to three guiding principles: independence, impartiality, and non-interference.” (UNI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
