By Web Desk
TWA
______
Chairman of the Elections Commission R.M.A.L. Ratnayake announced the decision to go for a second preference count as none of the candidates had obtained the 50 percent plus one vote at the Presidential election this year as per the Presidential Elections Act of 1981, reported by Sri Lankan media.
Chairman EC also announced that all other candidates expect NPP candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Sajith Premadasa have been eliminated from the presidential race.
“However if the second and third preferential votes have been marked for Dissanayake and Premadasa, they will be added to the two remaining candidates,” Ratnayake announced.
Furthermore he added, “All counting centres have been asked to go for the second preference count and send in the result to the Commission,”.
As No candidate got 50 percent plus one votes required to secure an outright victory. Sri Lanka’s election system allows voters to rank up to three candidates in order of their preference on a ballot paper. If no candidate secures 50 percent in the first count, a second round of counting determines the winner between the two top candidates, using the preferential votes
