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EC formula to check on election expenses of candidates
View(s):After presidential candidates proposed various amounts ranging from ten cents to one thousand rupees as per-voter electioneering expense, the Election Commission (EC) is to decide on the per-head ceiling rate based on a formula, a senior official from the Commission said.
Following a discussion with political parties on Friday, Chairman R.M.A.L. Rathnayake told the Sunday Times the Commission came up with a formula to decide on the ceiling.
“One of our fellow commissioners, Prof. Lakshman Dissanayake, came up with the proposal to calculate the per-voter election expenses ceiling. The relevant gazette notification will be released shortly,” Mr. Rathnayake said.
As per Section 3 of the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act, the Commission is required to gazette the ceiling rate within five days after the nomination period in consultation with political parties and independent groups.
The amount, according to the law, is to be calculated based on the inflation rate and the National Consumer Price Index released by the Department of Census.
At Friday’s meeting at the Election Secretariat, representatives of leading political parties proposed Rs 200-300 as election expenses per voter. That would amount to billions of rupees as the total election campaigning cost, considering some 17 million registered voters in the country.
The Act barred candidates from exceeding the expenditure limit and required them to submit reports of expenditure and source of funds to the Commission as well.
During the last presidential election, the ceiling rate expenditure for a voter was fixed at Rs 20.
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