Dambadeniya Electoral District Explained

Dambadeniya electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the city of Dambadeniya in Kurunegala District, North Western Province. The 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka introduced the proportional representation electoral system for electing members of Parliament. The existing 160 mainly single-member electoral districts were replaced with 22 multi-member electoral districts.^[1] Dambadeniya electoral district was replaced by the Kurunegala multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the proportional representation system.

Members of Parliament

Key

Election		Member	Party	Term
	1947	R. G. Senanayake	United National Party	1947-1952
	1952			1952-1956
	1956			1956-1960
	1960 (March)			1960
	1960 (July)			1960-1965
	1965			1956-1970
		1970	P. B. Wettewe	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	1970-1977
	1977	Ukkubanda Wijekoon	United National Party	1977-1989

Elections

1947 Parliamentary general election

Results of the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947:^[2]

align=left width="180"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
		Umbrella	11,705	76.31
R. M. P. Y. Sirivimalaratne		Elephant	3,436	22.40
align=left colspan=3	Valid votes	15,141	98.72
align=left colspan=3	Rejected votes	197	1.28
align=left colspan=3	Total polled	15,338	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered electors	33,314
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	46.04

1952 Parliamentary general election

align=left width="180"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
align=left colspan=3	Valid votes		100.00%
align=left colspan=3	Rejected votes
align=left colspan=3	Total polled
align=left colspan=3	Registered electors
align=left colspan=3	Turnout

1956 Parliamentary general election

align=left width="180"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
align=left colspan=3	Valid votes		100.00%
align=left colspan=3	Rejected votes
align=left colspan=3	Total polled
align=left colspan=3	Registered electors
align=left colspan=3	Turnout

1960 (March) Parliamentary general election

align=left width="180"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
align=left colspan=3	Valid votes		100.00%
align=left colspan=3	Rejected votes
align=left colspan=3	Total polled
align=left colspan=3	Registered electors
align=left colspan=3	Turnout

1960 (July) Parliamentary general election

Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960:^[3]

align=left width="180"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
		Hand	15,331	65.67
		Elephant	7,866	33.70
align=left colspan=3	Valid votes	23,197	99.36
align=left colspan=3	Rejected votes	150	0.64
align=left colspan=3	Total polled	23,347	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered electors	30,135
align=left colspan=3	Turnout

1965 Parliamentary general election

Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965:^[4]

align=left width="180"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
		Chair	16,670	52.43
		Elephant	14,187	44.62
G. S. Jayathubandara		Umbrella	550	1.73
R. M. P. Y. Siriwimalaratna		Clock	206	0.65
align=left colspan=3	Valid votes	31,613	99.43
align=left colspan=3	Rejected votes	180	0.47
align=left colspan=3	Total polled	31,793	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered electors	37,122
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	85.64

1970 Parliamentary general election

Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970:^[5]

align=left width="180"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
		Hand	18,705	50.7
U. B. Wijekoon		Elephant	12,191	33.0
	Sinhala Mahajana Peramuna	Bell	6,017	16.3
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	36,913	99.64
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	135	0.36
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	37,048	100
align=left colspan=3	Registered electors	37,122
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	88.3

1977 Parliamentary general election

Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977:^[6]

align=left width="180"	Candidate!	align=left width="180"	Party!	align=left width="120"	Symbol!	align=left width="60"	Votes!	align=left width="60"	%
Ukkubanda Wijekoon		Elephant	26,089	57.34
		Hand	18,232	40.07
S. B. Vaidyaratne		Star	1,071	2.35
align=left colspan=3	Valid votes	45,392	99.77
align=left colspan=3	Rejected votes	104	0.23
align=left colspan=3	Total polled	45,496	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered electors	50,693
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	89.75

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Electoral System. Parliament of Sri Lanka.
2. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 22 October 2024.
3. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 20 July 1960 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 22 October 2024.
4. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 22 October 2024 .
5. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 22 October 2024 .
6. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1977 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 22 October 2024 .