Sept 01, Colombo: Authorities in Sri Lanka are gearing up for elections in three provinces on the 8th of this month.

A total of 3,073 candidates from 22 parties and 86 independent groups are contesting for 108 provincial council seats in seven districts of the Sabaragamuwa, North Central and Eastern Provinces.

Police Spokesperson Senior Superintendent of Police Ajith Rohana has said that 21,000 police officers have been deployed for election duties in the three provinces.

The police have deployed 123 Superintendents and Assistant Superintendents of Police, 1,407 Chief Inspectors, Inspectors and Sub Inspectors, 68 women Inspectors and Sub Inspectors and 5,340 Sergeants together with 12,886 Police Constables for election duties.

The Elections Department has said that all election campaign activities should end by midnight on the 5th and that meetings, processions, protests will not be permitted in the three provinces on the 6th, 7th and 8th.

Secretaries of political parties and independent group leaders have been asked by the Elections Department to take responsibility to ensure that election laws are not violated during the elections.

Meanwhile, Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya has assigned a special team of officials to the Anuradhapura District to assess the situation there and to minimize election law violations.