By Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo

While polling in Jaffna and Mullaitivu was 'really peaceful', serious violations took place in Kilinochchi, say monitors

Monitoring groups said there had been disturbing breaches of electoral rules in one part of the north, and an election-related death elsewhere in the country.

But the election commissioner said that overall the polling went well.

The new election commissioner, Mahinda Deshapriya, told the BBC he was very sad that a man was killed in apparent violence within the governing party in central Sri Lanka.

But he said that in most other places, including the mainly Tamil north, the situation was overwhelmingly calm, with turnout a little higher than in last year’s general elections.

Voting cards confiscated

The main violations in the north were reported from Kilinochchi, once the Tamil Tiger headquarters and a place whose population has only recently returned home from displaced people’s camps.

Civil society groups said thousands of voting cards were confiscated and voters threatened with violence.

But Mr Deshapriya said that in response the authorities held a mobile loudspeaker campaign urging people to come out and vote even without cards.

Rajith Tennakoon of the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections told the BBC the confiscations were “well organised” and very disturbing.

He also said far too little transport was provided for voters to get to polling stations.

But he said that in other parts of the north, Jaffna and especially Mullaitivu, close to where the war’s endgame took place, the situation was “really peaceful”.

The government has not been popular in the north and both it and the biggest Tamil party have much at stake in this vote.