Brisk early voting in UK referendum

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 January 2010, 13:24 GMT]
Initial reports indicate close to a thousand votes have been cast in the first hour of voting in the referendum being held in the UK this weekend. British Tamils are holding the referendum to re-mandate the Vaddukoddai Resolution passed in 1976, demanding an independent state of Tamil Eelam for the Tamils living in the island of Sri Lanka.

Initial polling reports suggest that there are long lines at some stations in areas with large Tamil populations as people line up to vote.

Booths outside the greater London region are also reporting significant early turnout. However, in other areas, few people have made the effort to get out early, observers say. Tamils activists continue to cover their local areas, encouraging voters to make the effort to cast their votes.

Persons born in Sri Lanka whose mother tongue is Tamil, people married to someone who was born in Sri Lanka whose mother tongue is Tamil and their descendents are eligible to vote.

A total of 65 polling stations have been setup across the UK.

Polling stations in the greater London region are open on Saturday, 30 January 2010 from 9am to 8pm and on Sunday, 31 January 2010 from 10am to 6pm. Polling stations outside the greater London region are open on Saturday 30 January 2010 between 9am and 8pm only.

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