Legal action against candidates who fail to submit campaign finance reports, EC Chief warns

Legal action will be taken against Local Government (LG) election candidates who fail to submit their financial disclosures in line with the provisions of the Election Expenditure Regulation Act No. 03 of 2023, Chairman of the Election Commission R.M.A.L. Rathnayake has said.

Chairman Rathnayake noted that according to the law, expense reports must be submitted within 21 days after the conclusion of the election.

These reports must be handed over to the Returning Officers of the respective electoral districts before midnight today (27). Elections Chief R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said expense reports can be submitted in person, and if that is not possible, a special website has been set up by the Commission for this purpose. Furthermore, he stated that all election offices across the country will remain open until midnight to facilitate the submission of these expense reports.

Chairman Rathnayake stressed that the deadline will not be extended under any circumstances.

The Chairman of the Election Commission noted that every candidate and political party is required to submit the relevant expense reports, whether they incurred any expenses or not, and if no expenses were made, a note to that effect must also be submitted.

The Chairman of the Election Commission further stated that information about those who fail to submit the reports by midnight will be forwarded to the relevant police stations.

Accordingly, the Election Commission will take legal action against them in the future under the provisions of the election law, Chairman R.M.A.L. Rathnayake further noted.