2ND LEAD (CORRECTION)

Around 18,26% votes cast in JMC election

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 August 2009, 13:04 GMT]
Only around 18,26 % percent of eligible voters had cast their votes in Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election held Saturday, Jaffna Secretariat sources said. These votes are the ones cast in the 70 polling centres in Jaffna district leaving out those cast in the polling centres located out of Jaffna. Only nearly 200 votes had been cast in many polling booths where 1300 voters were registered to vote. Comparatively, the voting percentage was higher in the coastal areas. Meanwhile, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, Suresh Premachandran, quoting police sources, said that ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) supporters had tried to enter some polling booths showing Sri Lanka Army (SLA) identity documents instead of the officially accepted seven kinds of documents including National Identity Card (NIC) and passport.

Police had managed to drive off the impersonators using minimum force in areas including Naavanththu’rai, Ariyaalay and Kurunakar areas, sources in Jaffna said.

Tension prevailed in the above areas following police action.

Suresh Premachandran also said that gangs of supporters of UPFA and EPDP who stood near polling centres intimidated the voters.

Election department had specified seven types of identity documents including NIC and passport valid for voting purposes.

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