⭕ Commissioner General of Elections, Saman Sri Ratnayake, has warned against publishing Presidential Election surveys by various groups and individuals on social media, stating that it could influence the independent views of voters and be detrimental to the outcome of the voting. He emphasized that this is a punishable offense by law.
⭕ Elections Commission Chairman, R.M.A.L. Rathnayaka, mentioned that the Police have been instructed to look into the various Presidential Election surveys conducted through social media and tuition classes, with orders to arrest the relevant persons.
⭕ If election laws can stretch that far, then it seems that expressing any opinion on the election could be illegal as it “could influence the independent views of voters.”
⭕ The thing is Everything in an election is about influencing independent voters’ opinions by convincing them with policies, speeches, and analysis.
⭕ Every developed country has election surveys; some countries conducts 1000s of them, every campaign conducts them to understand the voters, their key issues, and where they stand. They are an integral part of elections in this era of data-driven decision-making.
⭕ Survey results help voters to form an data-driven informed opinion on the election and voting patterns. If the Election Commission, the body responsible for a free and fair election process, is banning a way to obtain data-driven informed opinions, that is not ensuring a free and fair election. Banning informing voters thorough form of data driven analasis in elections is very concerning move from @ECSriLanka/
⭕ It would be very interesting to see the opinion of local and international independent poll watchers on this.
