70 percent voter turnout recorded

With polling for Sri Lanka’s eighth parliamentary elections coming to an end at 4 pm, several parts of the country reported around 70 per cent turnout of voters. Though the polling started on a subdued note initially, it picked up momentum subsequently. Around 3 p.m, rain marred the polling in many parts and yet, the overall figure reached around 70 per cent. No instances of major disturbances were reported. According to provisional figures available as at 4 p.m, Trincomalee, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya recorded 75 per cent each followed by Galle, Kalutara, Gampaha, Kegalle, Anuradhapura – 70 per cent each; Kurunegala – 68 per cent; Vanni - 67 per cent; Kurunegala – 68 per cent and Puttalam – 66.5 per cent. At 3 p.m., Colombo recorded 62 per cent and Hambantota – 68 per cent. Jaffna in the Northern Province struck a different note with a low turnout of 49 per cent as at 2 p.m. Once the polling is over, the counting of postal votes will begin followed by votes polled through ballot boxes. The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), a civil society organisation, in a release stated that it received some reports of incidents of violations of election laws on the day of polling. Manjuala Gajanayake, national coordinator for the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), a civil society organisation, says that going by information that he has received, there has been an “enthusiastic response” from voters in parts of the country other than in the Northern and Eastern Province. He, however, added that at the time of Presidential elections too, in the initial hours, the Northern and Eastern Provinces did not witness brisk voting. It was only after 12 p.m. that people turned up in huge numbers. Reports from Nuwara Eliya, a district with a substantial number of Upcountry Tamils, also indicated that there was no brisk polling as of now. Generally, the overall voter turnout in the last seven parliamentary elections was around 75 per cent. Only in 1989 and 2010, the figure was less than 65 per cent. Seven months ago, during the Presidential polls, 81.52 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise. (the Hindu)