In Sri Lanka, voters have been going to the polls to choose representatives for local government institutions. <br /><br />In some former conflict areas in the north, Tamils are seeing their first election in 42 years.<br /><br />While the vote is not of vital national importance, many see it as a litmus test for the government to gauge its popularity among the Tamil population, two years after it crushed the Tamil Tigers.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez reports from Colombo.
