Sri Lankans handed Anura Kumara Dissanayake a thumping win in a snap general election, giving its new leftist president greater legislative power to pursue policies to alleviate poverty and fight graft as the country recovers from a financial meltdown.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's promise to hold corrupt officials accountable has fueled his public support.

The Electoral College is how the president of the United States is elected. In the U.S., there are 538 votes up for grabs between all 50 states and the District of Columbia. To win the election, a candidate needs to secure 270 electoral votes which is the majority of the College.

Sri Lankans are voting in a parliamentary election that's key for their new, Marxist-leaning president to consolidate his party’s power and follow through on promises of economic recovery.

Sri Lanka's National People's Power (NPP) party, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, secured a majority in the parliamentary snap elections on

Sri Lanka's president's coalition, the National People's Power (NPP) posted an early lead in a parliamentary election, local television channel Ada Derana said on Thursday. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake called for snap a general election in September to seek a mandate to take forward his policies in the island nation struggling to emerge from a severe financial crisis.

Sri Lanka holds a snap election on Thursday which will determine if the South Asian island nation wants to empower its new, leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to push his anti-poverty policies as it recovers from a financial meltdown.