Polls in Sri Lanka’s presidential elections has now officially closed, with tens of thousands of Tamils across the North-east having cast their votes.
Turnout was reportedly above 50% across many districts in the North-East, as votes begin to get counted.
Across the island, turnout is expected to be at around 80%.
Results are expected in the early hours of Sunday. Tensions were high, with many Tamils stocking up on supplies and downloading VPN networks on their phones, in fear of a crackdown or violence in the wake of the results.
Read more: Tensions high as Tamils go to vote in Sri Lanka’s presidential elections
More than 60,000 Sri Lankan police officers were deployed across the island ahead of the polls.
In Mullaitivu, former Northern Provincial Council member Ravikaran was one of the first to cast his vote, saying that he “prayed for an end to white van abductions”.
Regardless of the result, the president-elect “must come forward with a political solution for the Tamil people,” added Ravikaran.
In Jaffna, TNA parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran saying he"voted early to protect and preserve democracy”. “I hope every citizen will do that today,” he tweeted.
TNA leader R Sampanthan also cast his vote in Trincomalee this morning.
See more photos from across the North-East below.
Mullaitivu
Trincomalee
Batticaloa
Mannar
Sri Lankan minister Rishad Bathiudeen casts his vote in Mannar.
Vavuniya
