Vote without health fears at parliamentary election, polls chief urges

COLOMBO (News1st) : Sri Lanka's polls chief has requested the public to vote without health fears at the August 5th parliamentary election, as health guidelines will be followed during the poll. "One health official each will be deployed to each polling centre to inspect whether people maintain a distance of one metre, wear a face mask, and wash their hands," National Election Commission (NEC) Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said. He made these remarks during a trial election that was held in Puttalam on Sunday. Trial elections were also held in Jaffna, Ampara, Badulla, Kalutara, Batticaloa, and Nuwara Eliya, as election officials tested the implementation of health directives during the process. Meanwhile, the department of government printing says that it has printed half of the 17 million ballot papers that would be required for this year's election. Ballot papers for the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa districts have been handed over to the NEC, government printer Ganga Kalpani Liyanage noted.