Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka for the 1st time on 20 October 1982. Incumbent president J. R. Jayewardene of the governing United National Party was re-elected, receiving 53% of all valid votes cast, defeating his main opponent Hector Kobbekaduwa of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
20 October 1982 | |||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 81.06% | ||||||||||||||||
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Results by polling division | |||||||||||||||||
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Background
After winning a landslide victory in the 1977 parliamentary elections, prime minister J. R. Jayawardene introduced the Executive Presidency through the 2nd Amendment to the Republican Constitution of 1972. Consequently, Prime minister J. R. Jayawardene was inaugurated as the 1st Executive President of Sri Lanka on 4 February 1978. As soon as he assumed office, Jayawardene introduced the 2nd Republican Constitution of 1978, which was in effect since 7 September 1978.
Under the Provisions of the 1978 Constitution, the president was elected to a six-year term. Since Jayawardene's first term commenced on 4 February 1978, Presidential elections were initially Scheduled between 4 December 1983, and 4 January 1984.
However, Jayawardene passed the 3rd Amendment to the Constitution on 27 August 1982, paving the way for the President to call for an Early presidential election after completing four years of their first term. Since president Jayawardene's first four years of his first term has concluded on 4 February 1982, he decided to call an early presidential election and sought reelection for a second term.
Electoral System
The President of Sri Lanka is elected through a system of limited ranked voting. Voters can express up to three ranked preferences for the presidency. If no candidate receives more than 50% of all valid votes in the first count, all candidates except the two who received the highest number of votes are eliminated. The second and third preference votes of the eliminated candidates are then redistributed to the remaining two candidates until one of them secures an outright majority.
Nominations
Nominations were accepted from 8:00 am to 11:00 am (IST) on 17 September 1982 at the Election Commission. The notification for the election date was issued via Extraordinary Gazette No. 211/2 on 20 September 1982.
Campaign
The election was described as a contest between capitalism and socialism. Kobbekaduwa, supporting the policies of the previous SLFP-led government under Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was expected to reverse many of the open-market and capitalist reforms introduced by President Jayewardene.
The election was held on 20 October 1982, with a voter turnout of 81.06%.
Results
Jayewardene won a clear mandate in a six-candidate race, securing 52.91% of the votes. Since he received more than half of the valid votes, no runoff was required.
According to the 3rd Amendment, if a President is re-elected via an early presidential election, the second term begins on the anniversary of the start of the first term.
Jayewardene was inaugurated for his second term on 4 February 1983.
Electoral Results
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J. R. Jayewardene | United National Party | 3,450,811 | 52.91 | |
| Hector Kobbekaduwa | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 2,548,438 | 39.07 | |
| Rohana Wijeweera | Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna | 273,428 | 4.19 | |
| Kumar Ponnambalam | All Ceylon Tamil Congress | 173,934 | 2.67 | |
| Colvin R. de Silva | Lanka Sama Samaja Party | 58,531 | 0.90 | |
| Vasudeva Nanayakkara | Nava Sama Samaja Party | 17,005 | 0.26 | |
| Total | 6,522,147 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 6,522,147 | 98.78 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 80,470 | 1.22 | ||
| Total votes | 6,602,617 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 8,145,015 | 81.06 | ||
| Source: Election Commission | ||||
Results by district
Final reports as compiled from the certified vote totals of each district.
| Districts won by Jayewardene |
| Districts won by Ponnambalam |
| Electoral District | Province | Jayewardene | Kobbekaduwa | Others | Total Valid | Rejected votes | Total Polled | Registered Electors | Turnout | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||||
| Ampara | Eastern | 90,772 | 56.39% | 53,096 | 32.99% | 17,102 | 10.62% | 160,970 | 2,101 | 163,071 | 204,268 | 79.83% |
| Anuradhapura | North Central | 117,873 | 49.84% | 102,973 | 43.54% | 15,677 | 6.63% | 236,523 | 2,294 | 238,817 | 278,594 | 85.72% |
| Badulla | Uva | 141,062 | 58.67% | 88,462 | 36.79% | 10,916 | 4.54% | 240,440 | 2,982 | 243,422 | 280,187 | 86.88% |
| Batticaloa | Eastern | 48,094 | 40.05% | 21,688 | 18.06% | 50,294 | 41.89% | 120,076 | 2,879 | 122,955 | 172,480 | 71.29% |
| Colombo | Western | 436,290 | 57.71% | 276,476 | 36.57% | 43,265 | 5.72% | 756,031 | 7,990 | 764,021 | 972,196 | 78.59% |
| Galle | Southern | 211,544 | 50.23% | 180,925 | 42.96% | 28,669 | 6.81% | 421,138 | 5,198 | 426,336 | 512,489 | 83.19% |
| Gampaha | Western | 365,838 | 52.50% | 301,808 | 43.31% | 29,192 | 4.19% | 696,838 | 5,992 | 702,830 | 835,265 | 84.14% |
| Hambantota | Southern | 90,545 | 45.90% | 76,402 | 38.73% | 30,331 | 15.37% | 197,278 | 1,804 | 199,082 | 241,956 | 82.28% |
| Jaffna | Northern | 44,780 | 20.54% | 77,300 | 35.46% | 95,923 | 44.00% | 218,003 | 10,610 | 228,613 | 493,705 | 46.31% |
| Kalutara | Western | 211,592 | 50.15% | 185,874 | 44.06% | 24,426 | 5.79% | 421,892 | 5,290 | 427,182 | 499,215 | 85.57% |
| Kandy | Central | 289,621 | 59.80% | 178,647 | 36.89% | 16,029 | 3.31% | 484,297 | 4,548 | 488,845 | 564,767 | 86.56% |
| Kegalle | Sabaragamuwa | 195,444 | 57.02% | 126,538 | 36.92% | 20,780 | 6.06% | 342,762 | 4,537 | 347,299 | 406,548 | 85.43% |
| Kurunegala | North Western | 345,769 | 55.77% | 248,479 | 40.08% | 25,730 | 4.15% | 619,978 | 5,431 | 625,409 | 717,505 | 87.16% |
| Matale | Central | 94,031 | 58.11% | 59,299 | 36.65% | 8,484 | 5.24% | 161,814 | 1,414 | 163,228 | 187,276 | 87.16% |
| Matara | Southern | 164,725 | 49.32% | 144,587 | 43.29% | 24,671 | 7.39% | 333,983 | 3,091 | 337,074 | 399,888 | 84.29% |
| Monaragala | Uva | 51,264 | 49.38% | 44,115 | 42.49% | 8,442 | 8.13% | 103,821 | 1,553 | 105,374 | 126,558 | 83.26% |
| Nuwara Eliya | Central | 109,017 | 63.10% | 57,093 | 33.05% | 6,659 | 3.85% | 172,769 | 2,048 | 174,817 | 201,878 | 86.60% |
| Polonnaruwa | North Central | 59,414 | 56.26% | 37,243 | 35.26% | 8,958 | 8.48% | 105,615 | 1,064 | 106,679 | 127,624 | 83.59% |
| Puttalam | North Western | 128,877 | 59.12% | 80,006 | 36.70% | 9,097 | 4.17% | 217,980 | 1,995 | 219,975 | 267,675 | 82.18% |
| Ratnapura | Sabaragamuwa | 175,903 | 50.90% | 152,506 | 44.13% | 17,195 | 4.98% | 345,604 | 3,407 | 349,011 | 402,202 | 86.78% |
| Trincomalee | Eastern | 45,522 | 48.64% | 31,700 | 33.87% | 16,374 | 17.49% | 93,596 | 1,795 | 95,391 | 133,646 | 71.38% |
| Vanni | Northern | 32,834 | 46.42% | 23,221 | 32.83% | 14,684 | 20.76% | 70,739 | 2,447 | 73,186 | 119,093 | 61.45% |
| Total | 3,450,811 | 52.91% | 2,548,438 | 39.07% | 522,898 | 8.02% | 6,522,147 | 80,470 | 6,602,617 | 8,145,015 | 81.06% | |
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