Akhir 12, 1432 / March 17, 2011, SPA -- Only about one in two eligible voters cast their ballots Thursday in local elections in Sri Lanka that are seen as a test for President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government, one year after his presidential victory, according to dpa. Election officials estimated turnout after polling closed at 4 p.m. (1030 GMT) at around 55 per cent. The figure is lower than usual turnout at a parliamentary or presidential elections, which normally averages 75 per cent, an election department official said. Nearly 10 million Sri Lankans were eligible to cast their vote in 7,300 polling booths to elect members of the country's 235 local councils. Results were expected to be announced on Friday. One person died in sporadic election-related incidents, but there was no major disruption of the polling process, police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said. However, election monitoring groups said they had received over 100 complaints. They included allegations of intimidation, impersonation, chasing away voters from polling booths and the violation of election laws. Elections for 64 other councils were delayed because nomination papers have been challenged in court. They include many in northern Sri Lanka, which saw heavy fighting in a civil war between separatist ethnic Tamil rebels and the government that came to an end in 2009. Rajapaksa, who won re-election in January last year and whose United People's Freedom Alliance secured a near-two-thirds majority in parliament in April elections, mounted a strong campaign for the local elections. The alliance has vowed to step up development efforts if its members are elected to local councils. Rajapaksa has focussed on improving infrastructure, including roads, ports and power projects.
