Claim: A photo of a ballot paper with the vote cast shared on social media on the day of the presidential election
Fact: The claim is false. The photograph shows a ballot paper distributed for postal voting.
Several social media users are sharing an image of a ballot paper, claiming that it shows a ballot paper that was used to cast a vote in the recent presidential elections in Sri Lanka. The photo has been taken with a smartphone and shows that the vote has been cast in favour of then-candidate and now President-elect, Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
Newschecker noticed that this claim is going viral on TikTok, Facebook, and other platforms like ElaKiri. Archived links of such posts can be found here, here, and here.
Since it is prohibited to take photographs/videographs of the ballot, Newschecker decided to check the authenticity of the viral image.
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The Newschecker team first came across this photo on a TikTok by a user named @nilmeenyasantha posted on 22 September 2024. Upon conducting a reverse image search we were able to locate the photo in at least two Facebook accounts on 21 September.
We were also able to locate the post on the forum ElaKiri, in response to a user’s query on the eve of the elections (20 September), asking if someone had an example of a ballot paper to look at and be familiar with ahead of the next day’s voting.
Given the suspicious nature of someone being able to find a ballot paper the night before voting began, the Newschecker team conducted a keyword search on the words ‘Sri Lanka Presidential Elections’, ‘ballot paper’, ‘Election Laws Sri Lanka’, and ‘Anura Kumara Dissanayake’ and came across multiple news reports about an incident, where a voter, who was eligible for postal voting, posted their postal voting ballot paper on social media.
These news reports specify that the Elections Commission had filed a complaint against the original user on 7 September, 2024, for posting a photograph of their marked ballot paper on social media. It is to be noted that postal voting began on 4 September.
We further found that on 12 September, 2024, the Election Commission made an official statement via the Sri Lanka Press Association that due to the above situation, no one would be allowed to take their cell phones into the polling booths. The press briefing can be seen here:
The Chairperson of the Election Commission mentioned that voters will be allowed to only take their National Identity Card (NIC) and the ballot paper into the polling booth, after having surrendered any other personal items to election officials. He also mentions that anyone who violates these regulations will be apprehended and asked to pay a fine of up to LKR 400,000 as per election laws in Sri Lanka.
News reports from Daily Mirror LK and NewsWire LK on 13 September also reported the same.
Moreover, the Newschecker team looked into election laws in the country, particularly related to Presidential Elections. Given that the Presidential Elections Act No. 15 of 1981 was enacted over 40 years ago and last amended in 1988, there is no special provision about smartphones in the Act.
However, Section 33 (3) specifies that if any person misconducts or does not follow the rules of the election officials at the time of voting, they may be held to have committed an election-related offence, and held in custody until they can be brought to a magistrate for decision-making and sentencing.
Most recently, the amount for fines for elections was amended in the Criminal Code of Procedure in Sri Lanka via the Elections (Special Provisions Act) No. 21 of 2023, enacted in October 2023.
According to the first and second schedules of the Act, an election-related offence of this nature could be fined anything between LKR 50,000 and LKR 400,000.
Conclusion
The viral image claiming to be a ballot paper that was used to cast vote during the presidential elections on September 21, is false. The image shows a marked ballot paper used for postal voting, that was posted on social media.
Result: False
Our sources
Self-analysis
Press briefing by the Sri Lanka Election Commission, dated September 12, 2024
News report by HiruTV, dated September 7, 2024
News report by NewsFirst Sri Lanka, dated September 7, 2024
News report by Daily Mirror LK, dated September 13, 2024
News report by Newswire LK September 13, 2024
Section 33 of the Presidential Elections Act, No. 15 of 1981 of Sri Lanka
Schedule I and II of the Elections (Special Provisions) Act No. 21 of 2023
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