At the polls, 196 members will be elected to the 8th Parliament.

A total of 15,044,490 registered voters in 22 electoral districts are eligible to cast their ballots today.

A total of 6,151 candidates are in the fray from 501 political parties and Independent groups.

Voting would start at 7.00 a.m. and end at 4.00 p.m.

Island wide 12,314 polling stations and 1,600 counting centres have been set up for today’s election.

Around 195,000 officers are involved in election duty.

The first postal vote result is expected around midnight today.