Nawalapitiya-K’pitiya:

Incident free poll

Sarath MALALASEKERA and Asela KURULUWANSA

A 55 percent voter turnout was reported in the 37 polling centres in the Nawalapitiya electorate that was subject to a repolling as part of the April 8 General Elections, according to Kandy Returning Officer Gotabhaya Jayaratne. Polling commenced at 7 am and ended at 4 pm with voters coming to cast their vote in their numbers from the morning hours.

The polling was conducted in a peaceful atmosphere, Returning Officer Jayaratne said, adding that following the sorting out of the preference votes according to electorates the results would be announced towards dawn. Tight security was maintained at Nawalapitiya with police teams being supplemented by contingents of soldiers and STF men. IGP Mahinda Balasuriya said elections were held peacefully with a satisfactory voter turnout. Meanwhile Senior DIG Anura Senanayake told the Daily News that repolling in the annulled polling centres in Nawalapitiya in Kandy district and Kumburupitiya in the Trincomalee district ended peacefully. “Only one incident had been reported during the elections, but it is not a serious one,” he added. Around 1,000 policemen were deployed to provide security.

There were no election violence reported at any of the polling stations, he said.

The voters in both electorates voted with enthusiasm at yesterday ‘s poll, he added.