In Sri Lanka unfortunately, we have to deal with the voting system in place
by Jude Perera
Australian Preferential Voting
The preferential voting system at Presidential Elections in Sri Lanka is not the fairest system, but it is better than the ‘First Pass the Post System’ where simply the person who gets the highest number of votes will win. I would have preferred Australian style exhaustive preferential system where it is compulsory to mark all the boxes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc. to cast a formal vote, otherwise the vote will be discarded and not taken into consideration for any count. In the exhaustive preferential voting system, every candidate except the one who polled the least number of votes in the first round will technically have a chance of winning.
Sri Lankan System
In Sri Lanka unfortunately, we have to deal with the voting system in place. In this system after the first round of counting, only two candidates;those who polled highest and second highestwill remain in the race eliminating all the others. However, it gives an opportunity for genuinely concerned voters to vote for the best party in their view while not having to worry about running the risk of helping out to elect the most unsavoury party as a result of their first preference votes being parked with the best lot. Their second and third preferences can be used to disadvantage the most unsavoury party in the race.
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| Maithripala Sirisena |
Inthe Sri Lankan preferential votingsystem at the presidential election, we can mark the ballot paper 1, 2, 3 only against three candidates. However,voting just ‘1’ or ‘X’ makes the vote valid as well. Unfortunately, there will be alot of people who would care less about the system and mark a ‘X’ or number ‘1’ in only one box.That type of voting will not help voting for the most deserving party while disadvantaging the most undesirable party. This is the most important point I like to stress in this write up by explaining how the preferential system works.
Example
For example, let’s say there are 5 candidates in the race. I will try and represent these candidates close to real life situations.
A – Party famously known for disappearing dissenting voices in white vans while in Government.
B - Party presided over the largest bond scandal in the history of Sri Lanka.;
C - A coalition of people from all walks of life who want a change in the corrupt political system.
D - Gagaman who believes he deserves a second chance. and
E - An independent, naïve outsider.
Some people would like to see A is defeated at any cost while some others like to see B is defeated at any cost. It is a no-brainer that there will be a lot of people who would like to vote for the most deserving party represented by C, but fear that this action will be helping either the unsavoury A or B to win if C cannot secure a win. This is true for the ‘First past the Post System’. However, in a preferential voting system, placing the first preference, that is ‘1’ with C will not help a candidate voter does not want to support. That is explained below.
Let’s say the total number of votes is 100. Therefore, winner has to get over 50% or over 50 votesto win.
First Round of counting
In the presidential vote counting in the first round, the counters will be adding the ones (where ‘1’ is marked). For example, let’s say we ended up with the following count for all the 5 candidates;
A=37, B=33, C=20, D=6 &E=4 this means nobody has reached over 50%.Now except those who polled highest and second highest which A and B, all the others will be eliminated from the race.
Second Round of counting
In the second round of counting,counters look for ‘2’ in the ballot papers of eliminated candidateswhich is C, D & E, and if ‘2’ is placed against already eliminated candidates then the counters will check for ‘3’ in those ballot papers.
Checking C’s Ballot Papers
C’s20 Votes are checked. Let’s say in those 20 ballot papers second preference (i.e. ‘2’) have been marked as follows;
A=6, B=8, D=1,E=3 and 2 has not marked any second preference. This 2 is discarded at this stage.
The counters will add 6 to Amaking its total 43, add 8 to B making its total 41.
In those C,‘s 4 (1+3) ballot papers marked ‘2’ in favour of D and E, counters will check out to see whose favour ‘3’ is marked.
Let’s say ‘3’ is marked in 3 ballot papers in favour of A and 1 in favour of B. These are now added to those giving a total of 46 toAand 42 to B.
Checking D & E’s ballot papers
Now the counters will consider the 10(6+4) ballot papers voted number ‘1’ for D&E. Let’s say their 2nd preferences (‘2’) have been marked as follows.
A=1, B=5, C=3, and no preferences marked by 1 which will be discarded at this stage. 1 will be added to A’s pile and 5 to B’s pile making a total of 47 for A and 47 for B.
Now counters will check D and E piles where ‘2’ was marked for C to ascertain how ‘3’ is marked. Out of those 3, if it is 2 for B and 1 for A, that means B will end up with a total of 49 and A 48. Now the total number of valid votes is 49+48 which is 97. B getting 49 out of 97, which is 50.5 making B the winner.
Conclusion
C’s20 votes; in my view most deserving party has not hindered those who wish to see A defeated. In a similar fashion A would have won and B would have been defeated if preferences were directed differently. This is using the preferential system to vote for the best not running the risk of favouring in one’s opinion, the darkest devil in the race.
Therefore, more and more people should be comfortable in voting ‘1’ to the most deserving party Cand direct their preferences ‘2’ and ‘3’ to get a desired outcome in the case where most deserving party could not win in the race. It is imperative to understand the preferential voting system to elect the correct party at the presidential elections and not run the risk of electing the most undesirables as an unintended consequence.
Understanding the preferential voting system will immensely contributes to electing the most deserving party at the presidential election. Please vote 1, 2 and 3 on 3 boxes, and not just a 1 or X in 1 box.
Author: Jude Perera is currently the Convenor of the Melbourne base registered organization called New Era for Sri Lanka. He has been an elected member of the Victorian parliament for consecutive 4 terms (2002 – 2018) . He is the only person born and bred in Sri Lanka to be elected to any lower house of parliament in anywhere in Australia.
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