COLOMBO, JAN 25: Government supporters captured polling booths and stuffed ballots amid widespread violence during local council elections in northwestern Sri Lanka Monday, private poll monitors said.The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said their independent observers were reporting large scale electoral malpractice, including the capturing of polling stations.``We are getting reports of wide-spread, organised election violence and electoral malpractice in the north western province,'' CMEV spokesman Waruna Karunatilleke said.``Our monitors and opposition activists are reporting wholesale takeover of polling stations. Opposition polling agents have been chased away and suspected opposition voters have not been allowed to vote by government supporters.''Karunatilleke, however, said there were no immediate reports of casualties in Monday's violence which erupted after voting got underway for the 52-member Provincial Council, the highest level local government body in the region.Hesaid that in many polling booths the voting had ended in a couple of hours because of large-scale impersonations and ``wholesale voting.''There was no immediate reaction from the People's Alliance to the opposition allegations of vote rigging.In the run up to Monday's election, the CMEV had reported 792 cases of election-related violence, including two murders. On Sunday, the agency warned that there could be more violence during voting on Monday.
