Commonwealth marks 200 election observations with Sri Lanka polls

A Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) has arrived in Colombo for Sri Lanka’s presidential election, marking the Commonwealth’s 200th election observation since it began observing in the 1980s.

The country heads to the polls on 21 September, with a 15-person Observer Group deployed by the Commonwealth Secretary-General to observe the entire process, following an invitation from Sri Lanka’s Election Commission.

In a press statement in Colombo, Chairperson of the Group, former President of Seychelles HE Danny Faure, said he was honoured to be in Sri Lanka to mark the Commonwealth’s 200th election observation milestone.On 11 and 12 September, members of the support team observed the advance voting in Colombo – referred to as postal voting – the purpose of which is to enable eligible voters who cannot vote in person on 21 September to cast their ballots.

Meanwhile the observer group has begun meeting several stakeholders; they have met representatives of civil society, political parties, the police, and will meet more, including the Sri Lanka Election Commission, citizen observers and election monitors, and the media in the run-up to the election. (Commonwealth)

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