Presidential Elections

The small country known as “Ceylon” and the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, a former British colony now known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka just had a new president elected on September 21st.

Apparently there were 38 candidates who were asking for voters to elect them. Some 17 and a half million voters were eligible to vote with some 5,000 plus voting stations.

For the first time there were postal votes !!

So, voting was from 7.00 am to 4.00 pm with one day voting. A sort of multiple choice voting system. The voters chose 1, 2, 3, 4…

After the votes were counted, there was no candidate who had won with over 50%. So, the first Two candidates who had received the majority of the votes, had to find votes from 2nd choices.

A clear winner emerged within 24 hours and with a majority of well over a million votes.

All votes were paper ballots and Hand counted. No protests or violence was reported.

A lesson somewhere in there for America !!