Candidates Warned On Campaign Expenditure Limits

COLOMBO (News 1st) - The National Election Commission has announced that legal action can be taken against presidential candidates who exceed the declared campaign expenditure limits. 

Commissioner General Saman Sri Ratnayake emphasized that the public has the right to report any violations to the police.

An extraordinary gazette was issued earlier, outlining new regulations on campaign spending for candidates in the upcoming presidential election.

Each candidate contesting at the Presidential Election - 2024 to elect the President is authorized to incur a sum not exceeding of Rs.109.00 (one hundred and nine rupees) only per elector for the purpose of election propaganda
activities. 

Accordingly, the maximum amount that could be incurred by a candidate is Rs 1,868,298,586.00 (one billion, eight hundred and sixty eight million, two hundred and ninety eight thousand, five hundred and eighty six
rupees) only

The notification specifies that 60 percent of the total expenditure can be directly spent on the presidential candidate, while the remaining 40 percent can be allocated to the candidate's political party or group.

The extraordinary gazette, released last night, falls under Section 03 of the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act, No. 03 of 2023.

It mandates that all presidential candidates must submit their election expenditure reports to the Election Commission within 21 days following the announcement of the election results.