Wattegama Electoral District Explained

Wattegama electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and July 1977. The district was named after the City of Wattegama in Kandy District, Central 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] Wattegama electoral district was replaced by the Kandy multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the proportional representation system, continues to be a polling division of the multi-member electoral district.

Members of Parliament

Key

Election		Member	Party	Term
	1947	Abeyratne Ratnayaka	United National Party	1947-1952
	1952			1952-1956
	1956	Aloysius Weerakoon	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	1956-1960
	1960 (March)			1960
	1960 (July)	Abeyratne Ratnayaka	United National Party	1960-1965
	1965	Aloysius Weerakoon	United National Party	1965-1970
	1970	A. G. Fernando	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	1970-1977

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"	%
		Elephant	14,788	78.73
B. P. Percy Perera		Hand	3,477	18.51
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	18,265	97.24
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	519	2.76
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	18,784	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	32,009
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	58.68

1952 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952:^[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"	%
		Elephant	14,264	62.29
P. N. Dharmasena		Wheel	5,381	23.50
Charles Amunugama		Key	2,903	12.68
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	22,548	98.46
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	353	1.54
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	22,901	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	31,840
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	71.93

1956 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956:^[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	14,657	56.12
		Elephant	11,109	42.54
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	25,766	98.66
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	351	1.34
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	26,117	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	36,461
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	71.63

1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960:^[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	8,680	53.04
		Elephant	7,110	43.45
Vipula Dharmawardena		Cartwheel	399	2.44
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	61,189	98.93
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	176	1.07
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	16,365	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	20,093
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	81.45

1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960:^[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	8,317	50.75
G. Wereke		Hand	7,960	48.57
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	16,277	99.32
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	112	0.68
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	16,389	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	20,093
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	81.57

1965 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965:^[7]

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	12,373	56.02
		Hand	9,461	42.83
M.G. Ukku Menike Samarakoon		Butterfly	117	0.53
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	21,951	99.38
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	137	0.62
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	22,088	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	25,731
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	85.84

1970 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970:^[8]

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	12,840	48.64
		Elephant	10,869	41.18
C. Ratnayake		Ladder	2,598	9.84
align=left colspan=3	Valid Votes	26,307	99.66
align=left colspan=3	Rejected Votes	90	0.34
align=left colspan=3	Total Polled	26,397	100.00
align=left colspan=3	Registered Electors	30,024
align=left colspan=4	Turnout	87.92

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. 5 July 2018 .
3. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. 5 July 2018 .
4. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. 5 July 2018 .
5. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 19 March 1960 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 16 June 2020 .
6. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 20 July 1960. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. 16 June 2020.
7. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. 16 June 2020.
8. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 16 June 2020 .