State radio claims polling very high

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 December 1999, 12:33 GMT]
The state run radio, the Sri Lanka broadcasting Co-operation (SLBC) said in its evening news bulletin that polling was 75 percent today. It said that this was unprecedented in Sri Lanka's election history. The office of the Commissioner of Elections, however, said that it was too early to say anything about the voter turn out today.

A polls observer said that if the polling is as high as the state radio claims it is then it might have also been due to rigging.

The SLBC claimed that many people who had thought of not casting their ballot in this election had come out to vote in their numbers after the suicide bomb attack on President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

It blamed the UNP for the violence and rigging that marred the polls in several parts of the country today.