Sri Lankans started voting on Wednesday to elect a new parliament as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa seeks a fresh mandate to boost his power.
The election had been postponed twice due to the coronavirus epidemic, but voting finally got underway at 7:00am (0130 GMT) with strict hygiene measures in place to prevent the spread of the disease.
People began lining up outside polling stations even before they opened across the island where 16.23 million out of the 21 million population are eligible to vote. First results are expected by Thursday evening, with the final tally due late Friday.
President Gotabaya's older brother and former two-time president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is the the prime ministerial candidate for the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party.
Analysts expect him to easily secure a majority in the 225-seat parliament.
The president is seeking a two-thirds majority for his party in the parliament to enable constitutional reforms to make the presidency more powerful so he can implement his economic and national security agenda.
Voters must wear face masks, keep a social distance and bring their own pen or pencil to mark their ballot paper under rules to prevent transmission of the virus.
The measures have made it the most expensive vote on record at 10 billion rupees ($54m), the Election Commission said.
The tourism-dependent island nation of 21 million people has been struggling since deadly attacks on hotels and churches last year followed painful lockdowns to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
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