2018 Sri Lankan local elections
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Local elections were held in Sri Lanka on 10 February 2018.[3][4] 15.7 million Sri Lankans were eligible to elect 8,327[lower-roman 1] members to 340 local authorities (24 municipal councils, 41 urban councils and 275 divisional councils).[5][6] It was the largest election in Sri Lankan history.[5][7] This was also the first election under the mixed electoral system where 60% of members were elected using first-past-the-post voting and the remaining 40% through closed list proportional representation.[8][9]
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8,327[lower-roman 1] seats across 340 local authorities | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 79.94% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In a surprise result, the newly formed Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, led by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, came first, winning 40% of the votes and securing the most number of seats and local authorities.[10][11][12] The United National Front led by Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe came second with 29% of the votes whilst the United People's Freedom Alliance led by President Maithripala Sirisena came third with 12% of the votes.[12] However, most local authorities were hung with no overall control.[13][14]