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Presidential Polls: 14 million voters, 22 candidates, 11,000 polling centres

election2010Final result expected tomorrow afternoon

Nearly 250,000 government servants will be on duty for today’s 6th Presidential Election to be conducted for the first time islandwide, including the Northern and Eastern Provinces, after the conclusion of war on terrorism ended in May last year.

There are 22 candidates in the fray, including incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Army Chief, General (Retd.) Sarath Fonseka, the two main contenders. Two candidates withdrew earlier.

A spokesman for the Election Commissioner’s Department told The Island that 14,088,500 persons were eligible to vote at the presidential election today. Ballot boxes were sent to Kachcheries islandwide yesterday under heavy security escorts.

Among the voters eligible to vote are 45,732 internally displaced persons (IDP’s) in the North and East. The Menik Farm Welfare Village in Vavuniya has 16,000 persons who have registered to cast their votes today.

State as well as private buses had been deployed for those persons to travel to their polling booths in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, a spokesman for the Ministry of Resettlement said.

There are 11,098 polling centres and 888 counting centres. The counting in Colombo will be at D. S. Senanayake College and Isipathana College, where 2500 officials will be on duty. The final result could be expected tomorrow (Wednesday) early afternoon.

The Police Elections Secretariat sources told The Island that there would be 68,000 policemen on duty, assisted by personnel of the three armed forces.

It said: “The military will be called in to assist Police if violence erupts, even after the election results are announced. We will be very strict and severe on culprits who engage in acts of violence or even instigate violence. Just cast your vote and leave. Don’t hang around polling booths, start arguments which could end in fights.”

Elections Commissioner, Dayananda Dissanayake, told The Island that today’s Presidential Election would be free and fair. He appealed to everyone concerned not to make unwanted allegations and for the losing candidate to take defeat in proper spirit.

“I only hope this will be my last election as the Commissioner,” the Commissioner of Elections, Dayananda Dissanayake told the media recently.

There are 55 election monitors in the country from the Asian Association of Election Authorities (AAEA) and the Commonwealth representing 21 countries, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Cambodia, South Korea, Kazakhastan, Taiwan and Papua New Guinea. The UN and EU declined to send monitors for today’s Presidential Election.

There are also over 40 foreign media personnel in the country, mainly in vulnerable areas, including the North and East.

Reported election violence incidents were 985 upto last evening including four killings.

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