Voting in the local government elections in the Batticaloa District was brisk up to mid after noon yesterday and the atmosphere was peaceful. There was almost a 50 per cent turn out of voters by 3.00 p.m., DIG Batticaloa, Prasanna Nanayakkara told The Islands.

He said everything was normal and the poll closed at 4.00 p.m. The ballot boxes were sealed, including those for the votes of the displaced persons and were to be transported to the 26 centres,.

Additional Commissioner of Elections W. P. Sumanasiri said the total polling turnout was around 45 to 50 per cent.

He also said there were no reports of impersonation or complaints of intimidation at the polling booths and a peaceful atmosphere prevailed during the day. With the additional police personnel called in from other districts, about 6000 policemen were deployed on election duty and all the polling stations were provided adequate security.

Batticaloa District Secretariat sources said they expected to start the counting of votes at 8.30 p.m. and the results could be announced around midnight. Counting of postal votes had already begun.

EPDP organizer and candidate for Batticaloa Municipal Council Kandiah Arumalingam said everything during the day went off normally but people showed less enthusiasm to vote. Karuwankerny, Irudiyapuram and Jayanthipura voters had complained that some TMVP members had seized some voter cards and complaints were made to the police and District Secretariates, by some voters,

Dirrctor PAFFREL Kingsley Rodrigo said the voter turnout at the close of the poll was around 50 percent and it was good since the electoral registers were not updated. There was an overall enthusiasm and voting was normal without any serious problem.

The local government elections of the Eastern Province were being held after 14 years for 9 local government institutions. A number of political parties including the UPFA and the SLMC are in the fray with 831 candidates contesting 101 seats in the local bodies.

Police said the LTTE presence in the area in the past had created many problems when local government or parliamentary elections were held and in this election the absence of the LTTE has created a peaceful atmosphere at all the polling stations and the district but strict security measures had been provided.