Will President Ranil Wickremesinghe Contest the Presidential Election Under the "Heart" Symbol ?

As the much-awaited presidential election 2024 was finally announced by the Election Commission of Sri Lanka, a significant amount of misleading information about the candidates is being spread on social media. Fact-checking efforts are crucial during this period to ensure that voters are not swayed by misinformation and can make informed decisions.

Social Media Posts

Social Media Posts say President Ranil Wickremesinghe will contest the upcoming presidential election under the "Heart" symbol.

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The posts were viral on Facebook and other social media platforms.

We decided to do a fact check on this.

Fact-Check

Context: Following the Election Commission's gazette notification on July 26, 2024, setting September 21 as the date for the presidential election in Sri Lanka, there has been a surge of social media posts claiming that President Ranil Wickremesinghe will contest the election under the "Heart" symbol. This claim has gained significant traction, raising questions and confusion among the public.

Fact Check

Gazette Notification Review:

The gazette notification released by the Election Commission on July 26, 2024, specified the timelines for various pre-election processes, including the period from July 26 to August 14 for candidates to deposit their bond money.

Another gazette notification released on 29th July also outlined the symbols available for candidates representing political parties and independent candidates. Upon reviewing this list, we found that no "Heart" symbol is mentioned for any candidates, whether representing political parties or independent candidates.

Historical Symbol Review:

Additionally, a review of symbols used in previous elections revealed that no "Heart" symbol has been allocated to any candidate in recent polls. This further corroborates the absence of such a symbol in the current electoral process. Past elections-related gazette notifications can be read here and here.

Clarification from the Election Commission:

We contacted Saman Sri Rathnayake, the election commissioner general, to verify this information. He confirmed that no symbols, including the "Heart" symbol, would be allocated to any candidate before the official nomination day on August 15.

Rathnayake also clarified that after the nomination process, independent candidates are summoned to select their symbols, and only at that point are electoral symbols officially assigned out of the available list of symbols gazetted on July 29th.

Therefore, any claims about a candidate, including President Wickremesinghe, contesting under the "Heart" symbol are premature and unsubstantiated.

Update: 16th August 2024

The Election Commission issued electoral symbols to 17 independent candidates running in this year’s presidential election. As per the notice, the symbol allocated to President Ranil Wickremasinghe was a Gas Cylinder.

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Conclusion:

The claim that President Ranil Wickremesinghe will contest the upcoming presidential election under the "Heart" symbol is false. There is no evidence from the Election Commission's official gazette notification or previous elections to support this claim, and the Election Commission has confirmed that symbols are only assigned after the nomination process on August 15. This claim appears to be a rumour circulating on social media without any factual basis.