Sri Lanka, Nov. 1 -- The final result of the Presidential Election 2019 will be released by noon on November 18, Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya told news media yesterday. If a second count of preferential votes was required, then the result would be announced by the evening of that day, he said.

Addressing a press conference at the Media Centre of the Election Secretariat in Rajagiriya yesterday, Deshapriya said that the counting of postal votes would start at 5.15pm on November 16 and the counting of other votes would start at 7pm.

He said about 200,000 public servants, 10,000 informal workers and 80,000 police personnel would be directly involved in the election work. With the addition of the Civil Defence Force perso...