News
Central Provincial Council elections
View(s):Nuwara Eliya voters brave inclement weather for highest turnout of 65%
Nuwara Eliya: The previous day’s gloomy weather did not deter Saturday’s voter turnout in Nuwara Eliya, where heavy campaigning among two ruling party members led to 65 per cent of voters from the estate sector casting their votes at 423 polling stations to elect 16 members to their district.
Nuwara Eliya’s voter turnout is the highest, which according to observers was due to intense campaigning by ruling party leaders P. Digambaran and A. Thondaman. The Sunday Times learns that 54 per cent of the 507,693 registered voters are from the estate sector.
Very few complaints have been reported in Nuwara Eliya, with one of distributing election leaflets bearing candidate’s numbers. The voters of Hellbodde polling centre, Kotmale, were driven away by a wasp attack in the morning, with six persons rushed to hospital for treatment. Voting later took place at the polling centre.
According to Nuwara Eliya Government Agent (GA) and Chief Elections Officer D.P.G. Kumarasiri, 1,588 police officers have been deployed in the district with 7,255 officers involved in election work. Mr Kumarasiri said the increase in estate and private sector voter base was due to the appeal to grant half-a-day’s leave for workers to cast their vote.
The GA also requested officers to be extra careful when transporting ballot boxes along the Hatton-Nuwara Eliya road and Walapane-Rikillagaskada roads due to the inclement weather. Some of the ballot boxes arrived late due to misty conditions.
Counting was taking place in 48 centres.
The district also has 8,371 postal votes, which results will be released before midnight, the GA said.
Report by Shelton, Hettiarachchi
Little over half make it to the booths in Kandy
Kandy:Polling in the Kandy district, with 1,015,315 registered voters and 825 polling stations, to elect 29 members to the Central Provincial Council, started with a low turnout, which gradually increased to 60 per cent by 4 p.m– a drop from the 65 per cent voter turnout in the 2009 elections.
The Elections Department Complaints Centre said it received 54 complaints from within the district, with a shooting incident ‘taking pride of place’. In Pahathadumbara, Panvila area, four persons were admitted to Panvila Hospital with injuries caused by a stampede, after a group of ruling party supporters fired in the air, creating panic.
The incident took place in Kelebokke Abhiram Tamil Maha Vidyalaya polling centre, where voters were also chased from the area. However, Panvila police said there were no complaints over the shooting, with 3,500 police officers deployed for election work in the Kandy district.
Among the other complaints were preventing a person from voting in Teldeniya and distribution of leaflets bearing candidates’ numbers.
Two vehicles belonging to the same party collided in Gampola, killing one, which led to a tense situation with fisticuffs between supporters. Kandy District Secretary Gamini Seneviratne said that out of 107 counting centres 16 will be for postal vote counting.
Reports from L.B. Senaratne, Shane Seneviratne
60% of Matale’s registered voters’ ballots too valuable to be cast
Matale: Sporadic incidents and election law violations were reported in Matale where 60 per cent of voters polled.
Independent Monitoring bodies reported several incidents from the area on election day. People’s Action For Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) which earlier described the district as ‘vulnerable’ and called for special attention on polling day, said they had received reports of only seven incidents.
Two persons were injured when supporters of UPFA candidate Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon attacked a group of UNP supporters at the Sigiriya Maha Vidyalaya polling center in the morning. Network for Election Monitoring (NEM) said a group of thugs who had arrived with Mr Tennakoon to the polling center in Udawelayagama Matale, had assaulted the group of UNP supporters.
Campaign For Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) said they had received complaints of Mr. Tennakoon’s supporters intimidating voters in the Rathmalgaha ela area on election morning. NEM also reported that Matale Municipal Council member M. Sivagnanam allegedly engaged in illegal propaganda activities for the UPFA on election day in the Hunnasgiriyawatta area.
The election Secretariat set up a Complaints Centre to receive complaints of election law violations on election day.
Complaints included illegal vehicle parading by candidates and distribution of leaflets.
Reports by Mahesh Keerthiratne
comments powered by Disqus