Voting in Local Government election opens

Voting in the Local Government election commenced at 7.00 a.m today in more than 13,759 polling stations across the country.

Chairman of the Election Commission R.M.A.L. Ratnayake said all preparations had been fianlised by morning for the conduct of the poll.

Over 17 million voters are registered to vote to elect members to 339 Local councils across the country.

Election officials from the district said there were no major incidents that would delay opening of the polling booths.

One of the female election officials attached to a Polling station in Gannoruwa, Peradeniya had passed away due to a sudden illness.

Mr Ratnayake said the first results will be out before midnight today.

Reports from several polling booths said that some of the voters had arrived to join the queue before 7.00 a.m. 

However election officials and monitoring groups said they were expecting a reduced voter turnout, compared to the last Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

Employees in the Free Trade Zone, Katunayake said that most of them had decided not to travel to their villages for voting. They said the cost for travelling as well as most of them had travelled to their villages during the New Year season last month and returned to their work places two to three weeks back. 

Kegalu Balika Vidyalaya

Pix by Ravindra Welagedara