Colombo, Sep 21 (Reporter) Around 20 percent votes were cast in the first three hours in most of the districts as Sri Lankans exercised their democratic rights to elect a new president on Saturday. According to the Returning Officers, Polonnaruwa district recorded the highest voter turnout of 35 percent while the polling figure was the lowest - 10 percent - in Jaffna. In capital Colombo, 20 percent of votes were cast till 10 am local time, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported. The voting started at 7 am with the people of the tiny island nation, grappling with a serious economic crisis, looking to elect a head of state for the next five years. A record 38 candidates, including incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe, are vying for the country's highest office in the first election since the economic catastrophe a little more than two years back threw Sri Lanka into political turmoil. The then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had to flee abroad in July 2022 as the country saw an unprecedented food and fuel scarcity and defaulted on its loans. Wickremesinghe, who has been steering the country since then, is contesting as an independent candidate. The other formidable contenders are Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is representing the National People's Power (NPP) alliance and Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party. Namak Rajapaksa, son of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, is also in fray. According to the news portal EconomyNext, 17.1 million of the country's 22 million population are eligible to vote and the results are expected to be declared by Sunday if the counting process goes smoothly, Election Commission officials have said. As per the polling system, voters rank up to three candidates in order of their preference on a ballot paper, with a contestant needing to obtain 50 percent of first preference votes to win. If none of the rivals reach the magic figure of 50 percent of polled votes, a second round of voting will be held between the top two candidates from the opening round after eliminating the other contestants...////...