Voters cast ballot in Sri Lanka's elections in a first after painful economic collapse

00:54

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka votes in crucial presidential election to decide economic future

Millions of Sri Lankans cast their votes on Saturday 21 September to select a new president who will face the task of cementing the South Asian country’s fragile economic recovery following its worst financial crisis in decades.

More than 17 million of Sri Lanka’s 22 million people are eligible to vote in the presidential election that has shaped up to be a close contest between incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe, main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Marxist-leaning challenger Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

Voting began at 7am local time (01:30am GMT) and ended at 4pm (10:30am GMT), with counting scheduled to start shortly after.

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