Aug 23 Colombo: The polls in Sri Lanka's North Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces ended this evening at 4:00 p.m. without any major incidents. Election officials say nearly 75% of voters in the two provinces have voted in today's election.

Election Secretariat said the casting of the votes held in a good manner throughout the day. Only a few minor incidents have been reported as violations, Election Secretariat Officials said.

However election monitors said there were some incidents that violated the election rules severely in the two Provinces.

According to Keerthi Thennakoon, the Media Coordinator for Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE), highest number of violations reported in the North Central Province were from Kekirawa and Polonnaruwa areas.

In the Sabaragamuwa Province, the highest number of violations was reported from the Yatiyantota and Balangoda areas, he further added.

A total of 21,000 Police Officers have been deployed while another 1,000 Army soldiers were on standby to provide security.

Voting conducted at 1,772 polling stations in Sabaragamuwa and North Central Provinces to select the 77 councilors for the next four years.

Counting of postal votes started at about 4.30 p.m. this evening at the main centers in four districts. Election Secretariat says that they hope to release the first result before midnight.