Local elections are taking place in many parts of Sri Lanka, including the former war zone in the north.
In some areas badly affected by the war, people are electing councillors for the first time in 29 years.There is a heavy military presence in the northern city of Jaffna, and many shops have been shut.
Much is at stake for the government in these polls, which have been marred by allegations of abuse, says the BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo.
One person - a supporter of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) - was killed in clashes between rival party supporters hours before the polls opened in the central district of Anuradhapura, AFP news agency quoted police as saying.
But polling appeared to be taking place peacefully in many parts of the north, with many people reportedly turning up early to cast their ballots around Kilinochchi.
Saturday's poll covers 65 administrative bodies, including 20 councils in the military-controlled districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu, where there was fierce fighting until May 2009, when the 25-year civil war ended.
Government drive President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government is not popular in the mainly Tamil north, our correspondent says.
In last year's presidential election its people voted overwhelmingly for his only opponent, Gen Sarath Fonseka.
The governing coalition would dearly like to score better this time and its ministers have been campaigning hard, opening public works and plastering their posters in every available space, our correspondent adds.
The most popular party in the region, the Tamil National Alliance or TNA, does not have the same visibility and is unhappy with the way it has been treated.
"The very first meeting we had was attacked by the army in full uniform," said MA Sumanthiran, one of its lawmakers.
"They can't get away from that fact. No action has been taken to date, no one has been apprehended."
In other alleged incidents, a TNA candidate had the head of a decapitated dog placed on his gate, and others have reported funeral wreaths on their doors.
The government denies wrongdoing. Its main Tamil ally in Jaffna says the apparent threats are stunts staged by the TNA itself to gain sympathy.
Civil society groups accuse the government of regular misuse of state vehicles and other resources in its campaign, and - conversely - of failing to provide enough transport for people in remote areas to get to polling stations.
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