Department of Election

History	Pages - 1 / 2
Since its inception in 1947 - for nearly a half - a - century this Department has been housed in rented premises in four locations in the Colombo City. With the near two-fold increase in the strength of voters in the last decade and the different kinds of elections and their frequencies in the post -1978 period, the need for its own headquarters with adequate space and facilities, became an absolute necessity.
On the request of this Department, the Urban Development Authority offered several sites from which the site on Sarana Mawatha was selected. This site was meant to accommodate the Elections Secretariat (Office of the Commissioner of Elections) as well as a building for a branch of the Colombo District Office. The Urban Development Authority requested payment of an amount of Rs. 6.06 million to hand over the land. Later verification revealed that this was not a block of land on which the Urban Development Authority had spent any funds either for acquisition or improvement. It was a land managed by the Land Commissioner awaiting transfer to the U.D.A. When the Commissioner of Elections made representations to the former President J.R.Jayewardene that the above circumstances did not warrant them to seek such a payment where no cost has been incurred by them, the release of the land without any payment was ordered. Consequently the land , 0.5927 hectares in extent, was handed over to the Election Department by the Government Agent, Colombo District on 15th November 1984.
The Department of Buildings undertook the preparation of the building plan in 1985 and it was finalized by 4th January 1986. An amount of Rs. 12.0 million was estimated in 1987 for construction. But later this allocation was withdrawn due to financial constraints. Meanwhile due to cost escalations the estimates were revised. According to the revised estimates the cost of the building was identified as 45.9 million. On a request made to the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa approval was given to proceed with the construction. Funds were released in instalments of Rs. 0.4 million in 1990, Rs. 10 million in 1991, Rs. 20.2 million in 1992 and Rs. 14.6 million in 1993. There is a balance of Rs. 0.7 million to be paid in 1994. Foundation for the building was laid on 10.10.1991. Construction was completed in December, 1993. The new building provides 28,000 square feet of office space.
Heralded by blowing of the conch-shell and the beating of Magul-bera, the "Gevadeema" (House Warming) of the New Secretariat was performed at 10.05 a.m. on Thursday, 23rd December 1993, with the boiling of traditional " pot of milk". Maha Sangha , led by the Most Venerable Madihe Pannaseeha Maha Nayake Thero, blessed the occasion with pirith-chanting. Immediately thereafter, the office of the Commissioner of Elections (Head Office) having left the fourth and the last of the rented-out premises at No. 2, Cambridge Terrace, Colombo 7, commenced work at the New Secretariat. It was a very appropriate development that with the assumption of the office commissioner Mr. Dayananda Dissanayake in 1995, the Department move into the domain of Information Technology. The new Commissioner was himself a practiced and qualified computer literate and he gave the lead. This has led to fundamental changes in internal operation of the Department. That is in itself a splendid achievement of the new Commissioner's vision and trust.
On Mr. Chandrananda de Silva's retirement on 15th February 1995, Mr. Dayananda Dissanayake was appointed as the Commissioner on the 16th February, 1995. He served in post beyond his retirement age of 60 which he reached on 2nd January, 2002. He eventually relinquished his duties on 26th March, 2011 on the appointment of Mr. W.W. Mahinda Deshapriya as the Commissioner of Elections. Mr. Dissanayake was forced to "overstay" in the post due to a lacuna in the 17th Amendment to the Constitution which provided for an Election Commission. The Election Commission was not appointed ever since the 17th Amendment was enacted. The Commission was the authority which could appoint the Commissioner. Subsequently after the 18th Amendment was passed on 9th September 2010 provision was made for an Additional Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner to be appointed to the post. Accordingly on 26th March, 2011 Mr. Deshapriya was appointed thus relieving Mr.Dissanayake. Mr. Deshapriya joined the Department as an Assintant Commissoner on 1983. He served in that capacity in Trincomalee, Matara, Galle, Kalutara and Colombo Districts. In 2006 he was promoted to the post of Deputy Commisioner and to the post of Additional Comissioner in October, 2010.