A man carries a ballot box in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Aug. 5, 2020. Sri Lanka's Elections Chief Mahinda Deshapriya on Wednesday said that the parliamentary elections held during the day ended peacefully as the voting concluded at 5 p.m. local time with over a 70 percent voter turnout reported from across the country. (photo by A. Hapuarachchci/Xinhua)

 
Sri Lanka's Elections Chief Mahinda Deshapriya on Wednesday said that the parliamentary elections held during the day ended peacefully as the voting concluded at 5 p.m. local time with over a 70 percent voter turnout reported from across the country.

Deshapriya told journalists in capital Colombo that no election violence was reported throughout the day and only a few violations were reported into which the police were conducting investigations.

"We can conclude that the Parliamentary Election was conducted in a free and fair manner. It ended peacefully without any major election related violence reported. Overall we had a 70 percent voter turnout islandwide," Deshapriya said.

He said counting of votes will begin on Thursday morning and the winner of the parliamentary election will be announced early Friday.

"We will be able to finish counting by 12 midnight tomorrow. By Friday early morning we will have a winner," Deshapriya said.

A man carries a ballot box in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Aug. 5, 2020. Sri Lanka's Elections Chief Mahinda Deshapriya on Wednesday said that the parliamentary elections held during the day ended peacefully as the voting concluded at 5 p.m. local time with over a 70 percent voter turnout reported from across the country. (photo by A. Hapuarachchci/Xinhua)

 
Over 12,000 polling booths were set up across the country for Wednesday's poll which will elect a new 225-member parliament. Over 7,000 candidates contested the polls which were held under strict health guidelines for the first time due to the COVID-19 outbreak which had infected over 2,800 people in the country.

On Wednesday night officials were seen sealing the ballot boxes at the polling booths, ready to be transported to the counting centers.

Security had been heightened throughout the country during the transportation of the ballot boxes.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced on Tuesday that the new parliament will convene on Aug. 20.