Mini polls held in the Eastern Province

The Election Commisoner's office  said the mini polls for Battocola district held without blood bath after 14 years .

The government has setup a security blanket over the coastal area using nearly 6,500 security personnel. The Election Commissoner said the counting actvities would be commenced shortly and the ballet boxes are still reaching the respective counting centers.

"Voting held on peacefully and about 30 percent of the voters have cast their ballots within the first two hours. There are no known incidents," said Kingsley Rodrigo of People's Action for Free and Fair Elections [PAFFREL].

The first results were expected by midnight in what amounts to a curtain-raiser for provincial elections later this year.

Meanwhile General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Peace Secretariat Professor Rajeeva Wijesinghe says the Batticaloa district local government election is an important step taken by the government to strengthen democracy in these areas. He pointed out that this election will give the opportunity to the people in the area to resolve their problems through democratic means. There are no reports on violent incidents related to the polls as predicted by certain NGO’s earlier. The Peace Secretariat’s Chief also said that Sri Lankan Tamils living across the world have hailed the government’s decision to recruit Tamil nationals to the country’s police service.