As votes are being counted for Sri Lanka’s presidential election, turnout reached as high as 83% percent in some of the Tamil districts in the North-East, according to early figures.
See turnout figures from districts in the North-East below.
Jaffna - 66.5%
Kilinochchi - 73.19 %
Mannar - 71.7%
Mullaitivu -76.5%
Vavuniya - 75.12%
Batticaloa - 75%
Amparai - 80%
Trincomalee - 83%
The figures are still subject to change as votes are currently being counted.
The early figures though do show a similar turnout in the North-East to Sri Lanka’s 2015 presidential election, where the Tamil and Muslim vote helped propel Maithripala Sirisena to victory against Mahinda Rajapaksa, despite the latter having secured a higher number of votes in the South.
Sri Lanka’s election commission chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said results may come as late as Monday evening, in order to ensure accuracy, in what looks like a tight contest between leading candidates Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Sajith Premadasa.
There were several instances of violence reported throughout Saturday, including an attack on Tamils in Kegalle and shots being fired at Muslims in Mannar.
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