Defeated Ratnapura candidate requests recount

A defeated candidate of the SLPP who contested for Ratnapura District at the last Wednesday's Parliamentary election has requested Ratnapura District Deputy Election Commissioner Suranga Ambagahatenne to recount the preferential votes of one counting centre designated to Kolonne electorate, claiming that the preferential votes he had obtained must be higher than what is declared by the Election Commission, according to his agent at the counting centre.

The candidate, Sani Rohana Kodithuwakku and another SLPP candidate Ranjith Bandara had polled the same number of preferential votes according to the official election results and Bandara and Kodithuwakku have been listed as ninth and tenth candidates respectively in the SLPP's preferential votes list for Ratnapura District.

Eight candidates of the SLPP, including Premalal Jayasekara who was sentenced to death on July 31 by the Ratnapura High Court over a murder during the 2015 Presidential election has already been declared elected to Parliament and if Jayasekara is deprived of the Parliamentary seat due to the death sentence given to him, either Bandara or Kodithuwakku would return to Parliament.

It is against this backdrop that Kodithuwakku has made this request to the Ratnapura Deputy Election Commissioner.

Kodithuwakku had stated in his request that he had first polled 2,397 preferential votes at the counting centre No. 105 and later had polled 3,090 votes at a second count. However, it is the result of the first count which was 693 votes less than the result of the second count that had been added to the final result, Kodithuwakku has stated.

Deputy Election Commissioner Suranga Ambagahatenne confirmed that he received a request for a recount by Kodithuwakku.(Ajithlal Shanthaudaya and Jayantha Nanayakkara)