Colombo: Sri Lankans, wearing face masks, today started voting in the twice-postponed parliamentary election which is expected to be won by the powerful Rajapaksa family-run party.
Polling stations opened at 7 AM and would be open for voters until 5 PM local time. The election, which was postponed twice due to the coronavirus, is to elect a 225-member Parliament for a 5-year term.
Over 16 million people are eligible to vote to elect 196 out of a total of 225 lawmakers for the next five years. Twenty-nine others will be named from a national list according to the number of votes received by each party.
Election Commission Chair Mahinda Deshapriya was one of the early voters as polling got underway.
I voted at an election for the first time since 2011. My aim is to show that everyone will be safe while voting, especially elderly, Deshapriya, 65, who is due to retire in November, told reporters outside his Colombo city polling station.
The election, originally scheduled for April 25, was put off until June 20 as the COVID-19 outbreak hampered the preparations.
The 5 August date was later fixed as the health authorities issued guidelines on holding the poll.
No one can bring corona to the polling station, there is no corona at the polling station so no one could carry corona outside. I can guarantee that voting will be 100 per cent corona free, Deshapriya said.
Under the guidelines, every voter’s hands will be cleaned before and after voting as special arrangements have been made to transfer the indelible ink to the index finger, with no physical contact with any surface at the polling station, election officials said.
Although no long queues were seen near polling stations compared to the previous one, sizeable lines were seen at a few. Despite the health concern, Deshapriya expects an 80 per cent voter turnout from the 16.2 million eligible voters.
The 12,985 polling stations throughout the country are being manned by over 8,000 health officials, Director General of Health Services Anil Jasinghe said.
Some 20 political parties and 34 independent groups are in the fray with over 7,200 candidates from 22 electoral districts.