There has been a high turnout for presidential elections all around the island apart from Jaffna

The voters were deciding between twenty-two candidates. But the main contenders are the current president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and General Sarath Fonseka, who led the army to victory against the Tamil Tigers last year.

In the north, two incidents of throwing hand grenades were reported in Vavuniya district, journalist Dinasena Rathugamage said.

The voting has been mostly peaceful and some Internally Displaced People (IDP) were transported from Menik Farm camp by buses to polling stations, he said.

However, the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said thousands of recently resettled IDPs in the north missed the vote due to not receiving voting cards sent to their camps in Vavuniya.

IDPs 'preventet voting'

The CMEV said it had received reports of multiple explosions in Nallur, Uduppidy, Manipay and Vaddukoddai in the Jaffna peninsular.

Use of the state media to support President Mahinda Rajapaksa's campaign for another term has been accompanied by harassment and violence against privately-owned opposition media RSF statement

"CMEV spoke with eye witnesses who said that within an hour of the incident a white van passed by the location in Arasady Road and Point Pedro Road," it said.

The incidents might have intimidated voters to stay away from polling stations leading to a low voter turnout in the north, monitors say.

An independent monitoring group told the BBC voter turnout was around seventy per cent nationwide but much lower in the Tamil populated north.

The turnout was also high in Batticaloa and Ampara districts. There have been few minor incidents in Ampara district.

About 14 million Sri Lankans are eligible to choose between 19 candidates.

Media 'under pressure'

Meanwhile, the Paris based Reporters Without borders (RSF) says the media in Sri Lanka have been under pressure to support the incumbent president.

"Use of the state media to support President Mahinda Rajapaksa's campaign for another term has been accompanied by harassment and violence against privately-owned opposition media, culminating in the 24 January abduction of political reporter Prageeth Eknaligoda," it said.

The press freedom watchdog has appealed to both sides to avoid a "iran-style scenario" in Sri Lanka referring to the anti-government protests after the presidential polls in Iran.

The state-run television stations, Rupavahini & ITN, have offered more than 90 percent of their coverage for the government campaign, it added.

"Although security concerns may be valid, RSF is astonished that the government has declared the Rupavahini and Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation buildings 'high security areas' on election day and the day after," the RSF statement said.