Colombo, Aug 20 (IANS): A total of 712,321 persons have qualified to cast postal votes for presidential election on September 21, Sri Lanka's Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Rathnayake said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference, Rathnayake said the commission received 736,589 postal vote applications for the presidential election.

A total of 24,268 postal vote applications were rejected due to errors in those applications, so 712,321 people have qualified to cast postal votes, Rathnayake said, Xinhua news agency reported.

Postal voting for the presidential election will take place between September 4 and September 6, and voters who are unable to cast their votes during the period will have an additional opportunity on September 11 and September 12, he said.

Sri Lanka allows government servants who are unable to vote on the election day at their designated polling station to vote early through postal votes.