By Maheesha Mudugamuwa The decision as to whether polling times should be extended during the upcoming parliamentary election, scheduled to be held on 5 August, is to be taken by the Election Commission (EC) this week, according to EC Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya. He told the media that the decision will be taken at the EC meeting scheduled to be held on Thursday (25). The polling time extension has been considered as the election has to be held under the Covid-19 health guidelines issued by the health authorities. However, the Election Secretariat held mock polls to test the Covid-19 health guidelines, to see if they were practical or not, and to test its preparedness for the parliamentary polls. “The mock polls lasted only two hours; it was a success and the health guidelines were practical. There was no issue with the guidelines,” he said. As explained by Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake, in the mock poll held in Ambalangoda, the voting speed was measured at 2.3 per minute, which according to election officials is a good rate. The parliamentary polls were initially scheduled to be held on 25 April, but had to be postponed due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which prompted the authorities to announce a nationwide lockdown from 20 March onwards.