<span style="color: #222222;">In Sri Lanka, political parties have agreed to a proposal by the Elections Commission to extend the voting period of the upcoming Presidential election by an hour. Accordingly, polling will be held from 7.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. on 16th of next month to elect a new President and a gazette will be issued tonight. The decision was reached during a meeting held today between officials of the Elections Commission and representatives of political parties.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> <br />'' The decision was necessitated as the election will see a record 35 candidates contesting and the ballot papers will be more than two-feet long. In the past, the voting time for all elections in Sri Lanka has been from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The election will also cost an expenditure to the tune of 6 billion rupees. The main contest is between Minister Sajith Premadasa and former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.</span><br />