[lkdood]

The Elections Department says the voter turn-out at the Provincial Council polls that ended about an hour ago is about 50%, although a slightly lower figure of around 43% to 46% was recorded from the Sabaragamuwa province.

Meanwhile, the Elections Complaints Investigation Center (ECIC) of the Elections Department said it received 117 complaints of election violence within the course of the day. An official of the ECIC said the highest number of complaints had been reported from Ratnapura. The breakdown of complaints from each district is as follows: Anuradhapura – 17, Polonnaruwa – 16, Trincomalee – 12, Batticaloa – 14, Ampara – 19, Kegalle – 13, Ratnapura - 26.

However, the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) alleged that the election was not free and fair adding that the overall voter turn-out was only close to 45%.

According to CaFFE, a total number of 121 incidents of violence had been reported within the course of the day from all provinces where the elections were held, with several major incidents reported from Akkaraipattu.

DM

[GuneBhai]

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