Muttur east, Eachchilampathu voters ignore poll

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 November 2005, 18:39 GMT]
No votes were cast in the clustered polling stations located in the army controlled area beyond the Kaddaiparichchan army camp for Tamil voters registered in the villages in the LTTE held Muttur east at the presidential poll held Thursday. Only one vote was cast at a clustered polling station located beyond the Mahindapura army camp in the government controlled area for Tamil voters registered in the LTTE held Eachchilampathu division, sources said.

About thirty thousand registered voters live in these LTTE held areas.

About fifteen State busses were sent Thursday morning to the LTTE held areas to transport to voters to reach the cluster booths in government controlled area.

Buses returned empty to government-controlled areas later in the evening, sources said.

Members of the European Commission and Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission visited the clustered polling stations to see the situation, sources said.

Meanwhile, voting was brisk in the government -controlled areas where Muslims and Sinhalese are majority. Some Tamils were also seen voting in the Trincomalee town and its suburbs.

About fifty five percent of voters in the Trincomalee district had exercised their franchise, election department sources said.