70 percent voter turnout in Lankan polls

Polling in Sri Lanka's presidential election ended Tuesday with a turnout of more than 70 percent despite incidents of violence, explosions in the north and intimidation of voters, officials and poll observers said.

A series of explosions in northern Sri Lanka ahead of voting lowered turnout in the region to less than 20 percent, but the rest of the country reported brisk polling in the first national election since the defeat in May of separatist rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), election officials said.

Observers said that around the country, some voters were prevented from casting their ballots, and shootings and attacks on rival political supporters were reported but there were no incidents that disrupted the overall polling.

Before the polls opened, five explosions were reported from the Jaffna peninsula, which was a major battleground in the government's 26-year war with the LTTE, but there were no details on casualties, said residents in Jaffna, 396 km north of the capital, Colombo.

Police confirmed they heard the blasts but said they did not have reports of any incidents.

Election officials said the average turnout across the country was more than 70 percent, according to provisional figures made available soon after the polling ended. The final figure could reach 80 percent or more after all figures are tabulated, they said.

Voting began at 7 a.m. at about 11,000 polling stations with 14 million people registered to vote. Polling ended at 4 p.m.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, 64, representing the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance, is facing former army commander General Sarath Fonseka, 59, who is backed by four leading opposition parties.

During the final hours of voting, the ruling party claimed Fonseka would be disqualified from the race because he was not a registered voter, but Fonseka and legal experts said voter registration was not a requirement to contest the election and, therefore, the general could not be disqualified.

Twenty other candidates also were running but were unlikely to make an impact as the race narrowed down to a close contest between Rajapaksa and Fonseka.

Both the main candidates claim credit for winning the war against the LTTE. The opposition has also vowed to end corruption and what they call a family dictatorship after Rajapaksa appointed relatives to government posts.

Allegations of misuse of state power, including the use of government vehicles, the state media and officials for his re-election campaign have been leveled against Rajapaksa while Rajapaksa's camp has charged Fonseka with lacking political experience.

The six-week run-up to the elections has been marred by violence, including four deaths.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Gamini Nawaratne, who is head of the police election secretariat, said more than 900 election complaints were received during the campaign.

Local and foreign election observers warned of the possibility of violence interrupting the election, and about 70,000 police backed by the armed forces were deployed to provide election security.

Rajapaksa called for presidential polls two years before his six-year term ends in what was widely believed to be a move to capitalise on the government's military victory over the rebels.

The counting of ballots was due to commence Tuesday night. Results are to be released after midnight, and final results were expected by Wednesday morning.

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