As of 07th July 2004, with 3 days to polling in the Provincial Council Elections, CMEV has recorded a total of 373 incidence of elections related violence, with 48 of them classified as Major Incidents. The remaining 325 incidents have been classified as Minor Incidents with a majority of them falling under the category of elections related offences or violations of election law. This latter category accounts for a total of 282 incidents.

The Major Incidents include 01 Murder, 02 Attempted Murders, 12 incidents of Hurt, 20 Assaults, 04 Threats and Intimidation, 05 acts of Arson and 04 incidents of Misuse of State Resources. Of the 325 incidents identified as Minor Incidents, 17 are classified as acts of Mischief, 21 Threats and 05 Damages to Property spread over the 15 districts of the 06 Provinces. Eleven (11) incidents involving firearms have also been reported.

The Western Province has recorded the most number of incidents (178 or 47.72 %) followed by the Uva Province with 59 incidents (15.82 %). The corresponding figure for the Southern Province is 47 or 12.6%, and for the Central Province it is 42 incidents or 11.26 % of the overall total. There have been 28 incidents (7.51%) in the Sabaragamuwa Province and 19 incidents or 5.09 % in the North Central Province.

CMEV has recorded two major incidents in the North Central Province, one involving a bomb attack in the Polonnaruwa New Town and another shooting incident in Galenbindunuwewa in the Mihintalaya Polling Division in the Anuradhapura District.

Pradeep Kumara, driver of R M Punchi Banda, UPFA Candidate for the North Central Provincial Council in a complaint to the Polonnaruwa Police has stated that his house came under a grenade attack around 0100hrs yesterday 7th July. While no person was hurt in the attack, it is reported that a vehicle parked in the premises has been damaged along with some sections of the property.
The HQI of the Polonnaruwa Police informed CMEV that the attack appears to have been committed by an unidentified party or person in order to intimidate. He said it was not a case of an attempted murder.

In another incident in Galenbindunuwewa in Anuradhapura District, U Mohammed Thaufik, UNF candidate for the North Central Province has reported that unknown persons fired 4 shots at his house on the same day around 1200hrs, causing no harm to any occupants but damaging a few windows. Following inquiries made by CMEV, M G A Samarasekera, Secretary to the UNF Provincial Council chief ministerial candidate, alleged that members of the JVP were involved in the incident. Chameera Sandaruwan of the JVP District office in Anuradhapura rejected the allegation.

CMEV was formed in 1997 by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), the Free Media Movement (FMM) and the Coalition against Political Violence as an independent and non-partisan organization to monitor the incidence of election related violence.

Dr. P. Saravanamuttu Co-Convenor	Sunila Abeysekera Co-Convenor	Sundanda Deshapriya Co-Convenor