15 million Sri Lankans go to the polls today

About 15 million Sri Lankan voters will cast their vote for the presidential poll on Thursday amid tight security.
Both local and international poll monitors have expressed fears that the authorities will try to prevent Tamils from voting after the main Tamil political party backed opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena.
The main contenders include incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the leading opposition contender, Maithripala Sirisena.
Polling will be held from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the counting of votes would begin at 9 p.m. on same day. The finals results of the poll are expected to be released by the Election Commissioner by 9 p.m. on Friday.
A total of 12,324 polling booths have been set up throughout the island. More than 3,000 government servants have been deployed for election duty in addition to the 71,100 security personnel including 5,000 special task forces officers
Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya warned on Wednesday of action against anyone violating the election laws and would order re-polls in case of any incident of violence in any constituency.
The independent Center for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) on Tuesday blamed the ruling party of tolerating “flagrant violation of election laws” and said opposition party offices had been targeted. The CMEV has more than 4,000 monitors across the country.
It had documented 420 incidences of violence since Nov. 20 when the election was announced. It said there have been reports of increased military presence in the Tamil-dominated northern district of Jaffna.
The Tamils make up the largest minority in the island, and may be the deciders in Thursday’s election.
Deshapriya said the security forces had no role in the elections and police were capable of protecting 49 counting centers. He said police had been ordered to “shoot in the head” if anyone tried to disrupt the election.
Inspector General of Police N. K. Illangakoon issuing a message on Wednesday assured that voters would be able to exercise their franchise freely tomorrow as security had been.
The Kahawatta and Badulla police, however, have failed to arrest several leaders including Deputy Minister Premalal Jayasekara in connection with poll-related violence.
Pelmadulla magistrate meanwhile issued arrest warrants against Jayasekara over the Kahawatte shooting incident that injured three men, who were decorating a stage, where opposition leader, Maithripala Sirisena, was to hold a meeting on the final day.




Sirisena could not hold his election rally there following the attack and counter violence.
The Bandarawela Magistrate issued an arrest warrant on Uva Provincial Council Minister Senthil Thondaman over the alleged attack on a postman at Ella, Badulla, on Jan. 3. The IGP has ordered the police to arrest suspects, expedite the investigations, control post-election violence by continuing the security measures taken before the election for a few days, increase security near counting centers, conduct patrol covering all the polling centers, nab those who violate election laws, put up 420 permanent road blocks and emergency road blocks to check suspicious persons and vehicles and take legal actions against those who breach election laws.
The Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association (LPBOA) President Gemunu Wijeratne addressing the media on Wednesday said commencing Thursday 50 percent of the private buses would operate.
Wijeratne pointed out that the crew who was operating buses on long-distance routes would be unable to cast their vote if all private buses operated as usual. Though there were about 20,000 private buses, only half would be operated for the convenience of commuters as well as voters in all 25 districts.
The private buses used for the transport of ballot boxes had been guaranteed their safety. The buses would ensure that the ballot boxes would reach the respective counting centers without any sort of fraudulent activities.
The bus crew who would handle the transport of the ballot boxes had been instructed to strictly comply with the election rules and regulations to the letter, he said.