Voters said trickling in

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Reports from Jaffna town said that people have begun venturing out to vote at the polling booths in Jaffna town in very small numbers by noon. There is an average of 25-30 people at some polling centres in the town which the TamilNet correspondents visited around 11.30 a.m.(05.30 GMT).

More people might start coming as the ex-Tamil militants groups urge supporters and families in some suburbs of the town to come out and vote they said.

A senior journalist based in Jaffna said this noon that the polling in the town could average thirty percent if people continued to trickle out to vote at this rate.

He expressed the view that this might affect the TULF's chances.

The Sri Lankan army made a pre-polls prediction that there would be fifity percent polling.