Devinuwara Electoral District Explained

Devinuwara electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between March 1960 and February 1989. The district was named after the town of Devinuwara in Matara District, Southern 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] Devinuwara electoral district was replaced by the Matara multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections.

Members of Parliament

Key

Election		Member	Party	Term
	1960 (March)	C. A. Dharmapala
	1960 (July)	P. P. Wickremasuriya
	1965	William de Silva
	1970	Ronnie de Mel
	1977

Elections

1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960:^[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"	%
		Elephant	8,748	33.43
		Hand	6,720	25.68
E. K. Cyril		Cockrel	4,223	16.14
L. U. Jayasinghe		Rabbit	2,425	9.27
Aelian Nanayakkara		Star	1,743	6.66
U. H. Amarasena		Cartwheel	1,594	6.09
D. J. Mohotti		Bell	212	0.81
Charles Gandara		Umbrella	210	0.80
P. Hendavitarana		Key	94	0.36
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	25,969	99.22
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	203	0.78
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	26,172	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	34,254
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	76.41

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	15,603	59.95
		Elephant	10,332	39.70
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	25,935	99.65
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	91	0.35
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	26,026	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	34,254
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	75.98

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"	%
		Hand	15,295	47.87
		Sun	14,308	44.78
E. K. Cyril		Umbrella	1,342	4.20
Charlis Abayasundara		Chair	499	1.56
P. N. Bamunusinghe		Flower	305	0.95
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	31,749	99.37
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	203	0.63
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	31,952	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	40,956
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	78.02

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	20,798	57.99
		Elephant	14,747	41.12
H. P. D. Weerasinghe		Bell	263	0.73
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	35,808	99.86
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	52	0.14
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	35,860	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	44,112
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	81.29

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"	%
		Elephant	23,776	55.87
H. W. Dickson		Hand	14,337	33.69
Mahindapala Wijesekera		Star	4,163	9.78
S. E. Wijesuriya		Lamp	198	0.47
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	42,474	99.81
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	82	0.19
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	42,556	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	49,897
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	85.29

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Electoral System. Parliament of Sri Lanka.
2. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 19 March 1960. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. 23 May 2017.
3. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 20 July 1960 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 23 May 2017 .
4. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 23 May 2017 .
5. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 23 May 2017 .
6. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1977 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 23 May 2017 .