The Presidential polls came to an end at 4pm with no major incidents
of violence or disruptive acts reported from any part of the country.
Election observers say that the election was held in a free and fair
manner with a voter turnout of over 70%.

While in some districts voting percentage was over 75 percent, it was
around 60 to 65 percent in some other districts. This is the first
national election in the country since the defeat of the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May.

Voting began at 7:00 am and concluded at 4.00 pm.

Incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa, representing the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) who seeks reelection cast his vote at Medamulana polling booth at his hometown this morning. His main contender Retd Gen Sarath Fonseka could not cast his vote as he had not registered as a voter last year.

A total of 14,088,500 eligible voters will cast their ballot in 11,098
centres throughout the country. Colombo District has the largest
number of voters (1,521,854) and Trincomalee the smallest (241,133).

President Rajapaksa called for presidential polls two years ahead of
the end of his six-year term stating that he wanted a fresh mandate
after the liberation of the north and east where no peaceful election
could be held in the past few elections.

The counting of postal votes is currently underway.

The results are expected to be released after midnight and the final
results are expected by Wednesday morning.