Campaigning for Parliamentary elections ends today

Political parties and candidates have made arrangements to address their final meetings today evening while a heavy display of advertisements on television stations were witnessed last night.

Candidates also shared their preferential numbers via sms messages.

Final arrangements by Election officials and Police were underway for the conduct of the poll on Thursday.

Police will deploy 63,000 personnel for election duty while the security forces will be deployed to guard strategic locations including power stations.

District Secretariats have made arrangements to dispatch of ballot boxes to polling stations from today.

The Election Commission is also coordinating with the Disaster Management Centre regarding the weather situation.

"We launched a 'Special Operations Room' and developed a plan in collaboration with the Election Commission of Sri Lanka, specifically for the election period. This plan spans five days, including two days before and two days after the election”, Mr.Pradeep Kodippili, Director Training and Awareness and Media Spokesperson at Disaster Management Center (DMC)  said.
 

He said it involves using separate offices and linking the tri-forces, police, and all related offices to maintain alerts 24/7. 

“All 25 districts are connected to this Special Operations Room,” he said.

"In case of an emergency such as a flood, landslide, or any other disaster during the election period, we are prepared to provide all necessary facilities to address the situation and ensure voter rights. We have coordinated our plan by contacting all Electoral Officers across the 25 districts, as well as all offices within the Election Commission, via online meetings. This plan will be launched on November 12 and will conclude on November 16," added Mr. Kodippili.

The National Building Research Organisation, Department of Meteorology, Irrigation Department of Sri Lanka, and other relevant departments will collaborate with the DMC to issue weather reports every three hours as part of a special election plan on election day. 

The DMS also plans to activate an additional six emergency contact numbers, specifically for the election period, for voters on November 11, 2024.

Meteorologist Ms. Pabodhini Karunapala in the Department of Meteorology, heavy rain is predicted on November 14th, especially in the evening, in the Northern, North Central, Eastern, Central, and Uva Provinces.

The final election rally of Samagi Jana Balawegaya is scheduled to be held at Hulfsdrop later today.