[14] Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had been appointed as Prime Minister by Rajapaksa just two months earlier, received the most votes and was sworn in as the 9th President of Sri Lanka on 21 July 2022.

[18] The commission chose to hold the election on a Saturday, stating that this would help ensure a high voter turnout.

On the same day, Ranil Wickremesinghe announced his candidacy for a second term as president, running as an independent candidate.

[23][24] The Election Commission outlined the voting procedure on 30 August 2024, detailing the ranked voting system due to the multiple candidates contesting the presidential election, ensuring voters were informed on how to cast and submit their ballots.

[27] The Election Commission announced the dates and locations for postal voting in a media release on 29 August 2024.

[68][69] One of the main reasons for the proliferation of candidates is the low election deposit required to contest – Rs.

[101][102] Many of the minor candidates are accused of being proxy or dummy candidates put forward by the main contenders to maximise the benefits of candidacy, such as having two agents at every polling station, assigning counting agents, receiving free slots on state television, and gaining general media coverage.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake campaigned on a platform promoting economic freedoms and welfare protections for the working class.

Sajith Premadasa vowed to mitigate the impact of the International Monetary Fund's restructuring programme on the poor and promised devolved political powers to the Tamil minority.

Namal Rajapaksa pledged to reduce tax burdens, attributing the recent economic and political crises to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Four candidates, Sajith Premadasa, Namal Rajapaksa, Dilith Jayaweera, and P. Ariyanethiran, confirmed their participation.

The debate took place at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) and was broadcast live on mainstream television and social media platforms.

[121][122] After candidates in the Presidential Election submitted their declarations to the Elections Commission on 15 August 2024, the deadline for nomination papers, the commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) obtained and published redacted versions on its official website.

The poll ranked Sajith Premadasa, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and a generic SLPP candidate.

In the Institute for Health Policy (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) polling, all major party candidates continued to have negative favourability ratings.

[140] In the IHP SLOTS polling conducted in July 2024, the net favourability rating of Anura Kumara Dissanayake rose by 29 points from June, reaching +3.

[141] In the IHP SLOTS polling for August 2024, the net favourability rating of Sajith Premadasa improved to −32, a 10-point increase compared to July.

[142] While counting was still underway, foreign minister Ali Sabry congratulated Dissanayake, citing his strong showing in the results.

[144] The test match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand featured a rest day due to the election.

The Tamil National Alliance, which had endorsed Premadasa, congratulated Dissanayake for his "impressive win" without relying on "racial or religious chauvinism".

[147] The International Monetary Fund congratulated Dissanayake and said it was ready to discuss the future of the economic recovery plan.