Only 5 percent voted in Jaffna till noon

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 January 2010, 08:26 GMT]
In Jaffna, only 5 percent voting took place until noon Tuesday and 25 percent may vote all together, reports from Jaffna said citing election officials. In the meantime, 30 percent turnout was registered in Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Ampaa'rai, where turnout is expected to reach 60 percent. Ki'linochchi and Mullaiththeevu registered the lowest voting between one and two percent until noon.

Tension prevailed in Jaffna in the early morning after grenade explosions in several places. Tyres burnt in the roads prevented traffic. Even though there were rumours of further grenade explosions, people were seen moving around by noon.

A striking feature seen for the first time in Jaffna was that people chose to go in groups to the voting booths this time.