• Ballot paper will be around 25 inches without the countable section

The ballot paper for the Presidential Election will be in the single column making it 27 inches in length including the countable section and five inches in width, making it the longest ballot paper issued for a Presidential Poll in Sri Lanka.

“It will be a single leaf where all the candidates are listed in a row and it will be a long one,” Government Printer Gangani Liyanage told The Daily Morning yesterday (25). “It will be a similar ballot paper as the last time; however, it will be longer by an inch or two.”

Despite the long ballot paper, Liyanage opined that there will be no inconvenience to the voter and the voting process will be like any other election.

“It will still be cut short due to the countable section so the voter will get a 25 inch ballot paper to their hand,” Liyanage said.

However, if the ballot paper was designed as a double leaf the paper would have been 13.5 inches in width.

Despite the increased length, Liyanage said that this has not been the longest ballot paper in Sri Lankan history.

The increasing length of the ballot paper is a result of Sri Lanka’s electoral commission accepting 39 applications for the Presidential race. However, the number of candidates was shortened to 38 following the death of independent Presidential candidate Aidrus Ilyas on  August 22.

During the last Presidential Election in 2019, 35 candidates ran for presidency.

It is reported that Sri Lanka will have 17.1 million voters who are eligible to vote in the 2024 Election with one million of them being new voters. Sri Lanka gains 200,000 registered new voters every year.