19.
| (1) Any member of a Village Council may with his consent be proposed and seconded for election as Chairman by any other member present, and the members present shall thereupon elect, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2), a Chairman from among the members proposed and seconded for election as Chairman. |
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| (2)
| | (a) Where only one candidate is proposed and seconded for election as Chairman, the person (hereinafter in this section referred to as the " presiding officer ") who presides at the meeting at which the election takes place shall, without question put, declare that candidate to be elected. | | |
| | (b) Where two or more candidates are proposed and seconded for election as Chairman, the mode of election shall be by either open or secret voting, according as the members present may by resolution determine ; and, if the number of votes cast on such resolution is equally divided, the determination of the mode of election shall be made by lot to be drawn in the presence of the presiding officer in such manner as he shall direct. | | |
| | (c) Where it is determined under paragraph (b) that the election of a Chairman shall be by open voting, the presiding officer shall take the votes by calling the name of each member present and asking him how he desires to vote and recording the votes accordingly. A member may state that he declines to vote, and in such case the presiding officer shall record that such member declined to vote. | | |
| | (d) Where it is determined under paragraph (b) that the election of a Chairman shall be by secret voting, the election shall be by ballot. | | |
| | (e) Where more than two candidates are proposed and seconded for election as Chairman and no candidate receives at the first voting more votes than the aggregate of the votes received by the remaining candidates, one candidate shall be excluded from the election as hereinafter provided and the voting shall proceed, one candidate being excluded from the election after each subsequent voting, until a candidate receives at a voting more votes than the aggregate of the votes received by the remaining candidates at that voting, or, as the case may be, until voting in respect of two candidates only is held and completed. | | |
| | (f) Where there are three or more candidates at a voting, the determination as to which candidate is to be excluded from the election under paragraph (e) after that voting shall be made as follows : -
| | | (i) if the number of votes received by one candidate is lower than the number received by each remaining candidate, the candidate receiving the lowest number shall be excluded ; |
| (ii) if each of all the candidates receives an equal number of votes, or if each of two or more candidates receives an equal number of votes which is less than the number received by the remaining candidate or each remaining candidate, one of the candidates receiving the equal number shall be excluded, the determination as to which candidate is to be excluded being made by lot to be drawn in the presence of the presiding officer in such manner as he shall direct. |
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| | (g) Where there are two candidates at any voting and the number of votes cast is equally divided and the addition of one vote would entitle one of the candidates to be elected as Chairman, the determination of the candidate to whom the additional vote shall be deemed to have been given shall be made by lot to be drawn in the presence of the presiding officer in such manner as he shall direct. | | |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts