( January 8, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Voting for the Presidential election began this morning at 7 and the voting will conclude at 4 pm today.
Meanwhile, Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya requested voters to cast their ballots as early as possible and that the production of a valid identity document was a mandatory requirement for voting. Mr. Deshapriya said it would be advisable for those who have returned from abroad to carry their passports to their polling stations.
He said a polling card was not essential for voting. “If any voter has a valid identity document such as the National Identity Card (NIC), he or she becomes eligible for voting. However, workplace identity cards are not accepted. Likewise, we will not accept receipts issued when applying for NICs or photos certified by Grama Niladharis.”
“Those without any valid identity document can get a temporary identity document certified from the nearest election office. There is still time for it,” he said. In addition to NICs and Passports, the special identity cards issued for senior citizens, retirees and the clergy are considered valid identity documents and will be accepted at polling stations.
This is the seventh Presidential election in Sri Lanka and a total number of 15,044,490 persons are eligible to vote.
The first postal vote result expected to be issued around 10.00pm tonight.
Meanwhile, special measures have been taken to secure ballot boxes with two policemen deployed for the security of ballot boxes from each polling station.
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| Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena before casting his vote |
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| Walking to take the great responsibility over twenty millions ? |
 Voting for the Presidential election began this morning at 7 and the voting will conclude ...){kind=link}