Watch: The economy is the biggest issue in Sri Lanka’s presidential election

Sri Lanka's presidential election on September 21 features 39 candidates, including frontrunners Wickremesinghe, Premadasa, and Dissanayake.

Over 17 million voters are set to elect their next president in Sri Lanka as the island nation goes to polls on September 21.

Here’s everything you need to know about it.

The country’s election commission approved 39 candidates to contest in this election. This includes sitting president Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sajith Premadasa, and Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

More on them in just a minute.

These candidates have been campaigning since August and campaigning ended on Wednesday, 48 hours before the polls. Voting will start at 7 am on September 21 and will close at 4 pm. Counting of votes will start on the same day and the results will be known by Sunday.

At the poll booth, voters can choose three candidates. The candidate who won at least 50% of the overall vote share will be declared the winner.

If no body secures 50% in this round, then, there will be a run-off between the two frontrunners. This system was put in place 40 years ago, and Sri Lanka has never seen a run-off. But, it could change this time as the elections are a really close contest.