A turnout of nearly 60 per cent was recorded today in the first polls in 25 years in Sri Lanka's Tamil-majority Northern Province, four years after the military defeated the LTTE to end decades of ethnic conflict.
No major violence was reported from the war-ravaged region. Results are expected by Sunday.
Nearly 60 per cent of the 715,000 voters exercised their franchise in the five districts of the province, election authorities said. They said counting of votes had begun at 478 counting centres at 6 pm (local time).
Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said all measures had been taken to ensure a free and fair election and all results will be released by 6 am tomorrow.
The landmark election is being seen as a test to decide whether the predominantly Tamil province wants more opportunities for developments or the people want more autonomy.
The election is also expected to give minority Tamils a chance at self-rule after decades of ethnic conflict that left over 100,000 dead.
The main Tamil party - Tamil National Alliance (TNA) - is expected to win the Northern Provincial Council while the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to win in the Sinhala-dominated Central and North Western provinces.
Earlier, voting at some 850 stations began on schedule at 7 am (local time) amid tight security to elect the provincial administration in the war-affected region once dominated by the Tamil Tigers until their defeat by the military in 2009.
Soldiers patrolled the streets with police, election observers said. Polling ended at 4 pm.
More than 2,000 local and foreign observers, including from India, were deployed in the Northern Province, where people voted to choose a 36-member council for a five-year term.
Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaithivu and Vavuniya districts form the provincial council's jurisdiction. For decades, these districts were the main strongholds of the LTTE.
The run-up to the election saw allegations of voters being intimidated by the army. The charge was firmly denied by the military.
There were 906 candidates for the polls in the Northern Province, which is witnessing its first election after councils were created under the 13th Amendment, a byproduct of the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord.
In the first north and east provincial council elections in 1988, only one political party participated due to the LTTE's armed campaign to set up a separate Tamil homeland.
"My family and I want to maintain the peace here," an elderly man said after voting in Jaffna. He said he was supporting President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Tamil ally, Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), which is a part of the ruling coalition.
