Sri Lanka Election - 160 violent incidents in 4 hours

The Election Department said it would only release the final voting percentage after counting of ballots was completed by Friday afternoon.

But non-governmental election monitors pegged the percentage of votes polled between 50 per cent and 52 per cent; more than 20 percentages lower than what was polled in the last Parliamentary election in 2004 and one of the lowest ever.

More than 70 percent votes were also polled during the Presidential election on January 26.

Reports said voting percentages were even lower in the Tamil-dominated north where thousands of displaced Tamils are either in camps or in temporary shelters after their release from the camps.

Election observers in Sri Lanka have reported intimidation and poll-related violence as people headed voted to elect a new parliament. The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence reported 160 violent incidents during the first four hours of voting, most instigated by supporters of the ruling party.

"Pro-government supporters are reported to have intimidated voters," said CMEV spokesperson DM Dissanayake, who said that most complaints were against the United People's Freedom Alliance, the ruling party of President Mahinda Rajapakse.

In some polling areas, unidentified men had grabbed voting cards from people trying to vote, according to Dissanayake.

In the south of the country a shoot-out between opposition and government supporters early Thursday damaged a vehicle, but caused no injuries.

Dissanayake said many in makeshift state-run shelters for people displaced by war were not provided with transport to get to polling stations.

Another election observer, the private People's Action for Free and Fair Elections, reported cases of pro-government supporters chasing away opposition polling agents.