{
  "data": {
    "id": "sri-lanka-presidential-2029",
    "country": "LK",
    "country_name": "Sri Lanka",
    "level": "national",
    "subdivision": null,
    "subdivision_name": null,
    "date": "2029-08-21",
    "date_status": "tentative",
    "kind": "presidential",
    "conditional": null,
    "timezone": "Asia/Colombo",
    "status": "scheduled",
    "last_verified_at": "2026-10-02T12:00:00Z",
    "stale": false,
    "stale_reason": null,
    "provenance": {
      "from": "researcher agent 2026-10-02: Constitution of Sri Lanka arts. 30-31, 40 (parliament.lk revised edition 2023); Presidential Elections Act No. 15 of 1981 ss. 2, 30, 55-64, 102 (elections.gov.lk, OCR of scanned PDF); Election Commission results index and 2024 presidential election page (elections.gov.lk); Gazette Extraordinary 2402/26 (via search index, documents.gov.lk unreachable); Daily FT 10 Jul 2024, Daily Mirror 9 May and 21 Sep 2024, Tribune India 22 Sep 2024",
      "licence": "CC BY 4.0 (Election Index)"
    },
    "url": "https://electionindex.org/election/sri-lanka-presidential-2029",
    "races": [
      {
        "id": "president",
        "key": "sri-lanka-presidential-2029/president",
        "name": "President of the Republic",
        "body": "head-of-state",
        "seats": null,
        "seats_provisional": false,
        "polls_close_utc": "2029-08-21T10:30:00Z",
        "authority": {
          "id": "lk-ec",
          "name": "Election Commission of Sri Lanka",
          "name_local": null,
          "role": "electoral-commission",
          "homepage": "https://elections.gov.lk/",
          "results_index": "https://elections.gov.lk/en/elections/results_pre_E.html",
          "open_data": null
        },
        "status": "scheduled",
        "expected_stage_now": null,
        "observed": false,
        "final_observed": null,
        "final_expected": {
          "from": "2029-08-21T18:30:00Z",
          "by": "2029-08-24T18:29:59Z",
          "confidence": "precedent",
          "basis": "Presidential Elections Act No. 15 of 1981: if a candidate has more than half the valid votes the Commissioner (now the Election Commission) declares that candidate elected (s. 56); otherwise all but the top two are eliminated, the second and third preferences on the eliminated candidates' ballots are counted (ss. 57-60), and the Commissioner 'forthwith' declares the candidate with the majority elected (s. 61). The name is published in the Gazette (s. 64(2)). There is no runoff ballot. 2024 precedent: polling on 21 Sep, the first preference count failed to produce a majority and the first ever second-preference count was held on 22 Sep; the Commission declared the result on 22 Sep 2024 (reported by 20:04 SLST, Tribune India/PTI) and gazetted it the same day (Gazette Extraordinary 2402/26). 2019: polling 16 Nov, declaration 17 Nov (Wikipedia lead, not checked against the Commission). So about one day after the close in both. The opening (start of the day after polling, local) is an ESTIMATED floor; the window closes at the end of Friday 24 Aug 2029 SLST, three days after polling, to err late for a slow preference count. Election petitions go to the Supreme Court within 21 days of the Gazette notice (Act s. 102; Constitution art. 130); they are optional, so there is no court-validation stage."
        },
        "last_final": null,
        "previous": null,
        "stages": [
          {
            "stage": "election-night",
            "from": "2029-08-21T10:30:00Z",
            "by": "2029-08-22T18:29:59Z",
            "replacedAt": "2029-08-24T18:29:59Z",
            "confidence": "precedent",
            "citation": "Polling day is TENTATIVE: the latest date the Constitution allows. The President's term is five years (art. 30(2); the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking a six-year reading on 9 Jul 2024, Daily FT 10 Jul 2024). Under art. 31(4)(b), where the incumbent is not re-elected his term is deemed to expire on the date the result is declared, and the new term commences then: the 2024 result was declared on 22 Sep 2024 (Gazette Extraordinary 2402/26 of 22 Sep 2024, under s. 64(2) of the Act, as indexed by search; documents.gov.lk was unreachable on 2 Oct 2026; the President took the oath on 23 Sep), so the term expires on 22 Sep 2029. Art. 31(3): the poll must be taken not less than one month and not more than two months before that, i.e. between about 22 Jul and 21 Aug 2029; this record uses the latest day, Tuesday 21 Aug 2029. The same reading gave the 2024 window: the Commission announced on 9 May 2024 that the poll would be held 'between 17 September 2024 and 16 October 2024' for a term expiring on 17 Nov 2024 (Daily Mirror, 9 May 2024). The Commission picks the actual day by Order under s. 2 of the Presidential Elections Act (2024, per Wikipedia, not checked against the Gazette: Order of 26 Jul 2024, nominations 15 Aug, poll Saturday 21 Sep); it cannot be a Full Moon Poya day or a public holiday (s. 2(2)), and the August 2029 full moon falls about 24 Aug (estimate). The date moves earlier if the President, after four years of a first term, proclaims an early election under art. 31(3A), or if the office falls vacant (art. 40). Polls: 07:00-16:00 local unless the Commission gazettes other hours (s. 30), so close 16:00 SLST (UTC+5:30, no DST) = 10:30 UTC. The Commission releases certified postal-vote and polling-division results through the night to registered media (Results_media_2024.pdf on elections.gov.lk). 2024: first official result (Ratnapura postal votes) at 23:40 SLST on polling day (Daily Mirror, 21 Sep 2024); the Commission chairman announced the first-preference totals and ordered the second-preference count on the afternoon of 22 Sep (Outlook India/PTI, 22 Sep 2024, 15:41 IST = SLST). The window closes at the end of the day after polling, local time. Running results, not the declared result.",
            "source": null,
            "observedAt": null,
            "observedSource": null
          },
          {
            "stage": "final-result",
            "from": "2029-08-21T18:30:00Z",
            "by": "2029-08-24T18:29:59Z",
            "replacedAt": null,
            "confidence": "precedent",
            "citation": "Presidential Elections Act No. 15 of 1981: if a candidate has more than half the valid votes the Commissioner (now the Election Commission) declares that candidate elected (s. 56); otherwise all but the top two are eliminated, the second and third preferences on the eliminated candidates' ballots are counted (ss. 57-60), and the Commissioner 'forthwith' declares the candidate with the majority elected (s. 61). The name is published in the Gazette (s. 64(2)). There is no runoff ballot. 2024 precedent: polling on 21 Sep, the first preference count failed to produce a majority and the first ever second-preference count was held on 22 Sep; the Commission declared the result on 22 Sep 2024 (reported by 20:04 SLST, Tribune India/PTI) and gazetted it the same day (Gazette Extraordinary 2402/26). 2019: polling 16 Nov, declaration 17 Nov (Wikipedia lead, not checked against the Commission). So about one day after the close in both. The opening (start of the day after polling, local) is an ESTIMATED floor; the window closes at the end of Friday 24 Aug 2029 SLST, three days after polling, to err late for a slow preference count. Election petitions go to the Supreme Court within 21 days of the Gazette notice (Act s. 102; Constitution art. 130); they are optional, so there is no court-validation stage.",
            "source": null,
            "observedAt": null,
            "observedSource": null
          }
        ],
        "sources": [
          {
            "url": "https://elections.gov.lk/en/elections/results_pre_E.html",
            "role": "results-live",
            "kind": "results_index",
            "kindReason": "results section without an election code",
            "resolvable": false,
            "origin": "race",
            "note": "Election Commission presidential results index, not a page for this election. Checked 2 Oct 2026: it lists results back to 1982; the 2024 entry links to https://results.elections.gov.lk/pre2024/ (live results host, which on 2 Oct 2026 failed TLS with an invalid certificate and could not be read). No 2029 page exists yet; by the 2024 pattern a 2029 page would sit on results.elections.gov.lk, path unconfirmed. Results released during the count are the Commission's certified district and polling-division results; the declaration under s. 56 or s. 61 of the Presidential Elections Act is the final result.",
            "check": null
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.parliament.lk/files/pdf/constitution.pdf",
            "role": "timetable",
            "kind": "other",
            "kindReason": "no election or results marker",
            "resolvable": false,
            "origin": "race",
            "note": "Constitution of Sri Lanka, revised edition 2023 (as amended up to 31 Oct 2022), Parliament of Sri Lanka: art. 30(2) five-year term; art. 31(3) poll 'not less than one month and not more than two months before the expiration of the term of office of the President in office'; art. 31(4) and 31(4)(b) start of the term; art. 31(5) the Commission fixes nomination and polling days.",
            "check": null
          },
          {
            "url": "https://elections.gov.lk/web/wp-content/uploads/publication/acts/15-1981_E.pdf",
            "role": "timetable",
            "kind": "other",
            "kindReason": "election page without a results marker",
            "resolvable": false,
            "origin": "race",
            "note": "Presidential Elections Act No. 15 of 1981 (scanned original on the Election Commission site; read by OCR): s. 2 Order fixing nomination day (16 days to 1 month after the Order) and polling day (1 to 2 months after nomination; not a Full Moon Poya day or public holiday); s. 30 polling hours 07:00-16:00; ss. 55-61 count and second/third-preference count; s. 64 declaration and Gazette notice; s. 102 election petitions within 21 days.",
            "check": null
          },
          {
            "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Sri_Lankan_presidential_election",
            "role": "see-also",
            "kind": "other",
            "kindReason": "election page without a results marker",
            "resolvable": false,
            "origin": "race",
            "note": "The previous election. No Wikipedia article for the 2029 election existed on 2 Oct 2026 (2029_Sri_Lankan_presidential_election and Next_Sri_Lankan_presidential_election both missing).",
            "check": null
          },
          {
            "url": "https://elections.gov.lk/",
            "role": "authority-home",
            "kind": "emb_home",
            "kindReason": "site root: cannot answer a results question",
            "resolvable": false,
            "origin": "authority",
            "check": null
          }
        ],
        "page_activity": [],
        "government": null,
        "results": [],
        "live_count": null,
        "url": "https://electionindex.org/election/sri-lanka-presidential-2029#president"
      }
    ]
  },
  "meta": {
    "dataset_version": "2026-10-02.be7d6f40",
    "built_at": "2026-10-02T15:42:24Z",
    "generated_at": "2026-10-02T18:16:07.644Z",
    "licence": "CC BY 4.0: credit \"Global Election Index (electionindex.org)\" and link to https://electionindex.org",
    "docs": "https://electionindex.org/docs"
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}