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Incident-free polls ensures over 60% voter turnout
Polling in the Sabaragamuwa Province concluded yesterday without any major incident. Voter turnout in both the Kegalle and Ratnapura districts were over 60%, with 80% turnout from the rural areas, by the time polls closed, according to District Returning Officers.
Minister John Seneviratne after casting his vote. Pic by Apsara Wijesuriya.
The Kegalle district has 669,570 registered voters for 12 Local Government (LG) bodies- 1 Urban Council (UC) and 11 Pradeshiya Sabhas (PS). Voter turnout, which had been about 30% in the first few hours of voting, picked up in the afternoon.
Unlike in previous elections, there were no reports of election related violence, election monitors noted. There was a significant presence of police and Special Task Force (STF) personnel to maintain order, they further observed.
While there was no election related violence, several reports of election law violations were reported. Main among these were incidents of candidates canvassing voters on their way to vote.
A peaceful atmosphere was also reported from Ratnapura with 852,473 registered voters for 17 LG bodies- 1 Municipal Council, 2 UCs and 14 PSs.