Team News Riveting
New Delhi, April 9
Polling for the General elections for the Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala and Puducherry and the bye-elections in 4 ACs of 3 States (Karnataka, Nagaland and Tripura) began today at 7:00 AM and had been by and large peaceful barring a few incidents.
Assam and Puducherry surpassed their highest-ever poll-participation today by recording 85.38 per cent and 89.83 per cent respectively. Previously, the highest poll-participation in Assam and Puducherry was 84.67 per cent (2016 GELA) and 86.19 per cent (2011 GELA) respectively.
- Details of poll participation (%)* are as follows+:
| State/UT | Poll Percentage (%) | |||
| Male | Female | 3rd Gender | Total | |
| General Elections to Legislative Assembly | ||||
| Assam | 84.80 | 85.96 | 36.84 | 85.38 |
| Kerala | 75.01 | 80.86 | 57.04 | 78.03 |
| Puducherry | 88.09 | 91.33 | 91.81 | 89.83 |
| Bye-elections to AC | ||||
| Karnataka 1. Bagalkot-24 | 68.69 | 68.68 | 0.07 | 68.70 |
| 2. Davanagere South-107 | 68.55 | 68.55 | 0.08 | 68.55 |
| Nagaland 1. Koridang-28 | 79.34 | 85.14 | – | 82.21 |
| Tripura 1. Dharmanagar-56 | 79.80 | 80.26 | – | 80.04 |
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Dr S S Sandhu and Dr Vivek Joshi kept a close watch on the polling through live-webcasting which was ensured in 100 per cent of the Polling Stations for the first time in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry.
A total of 296 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) in the States of Assam and Kerala and the UT of Puducherry with a total electorate of over 5.31 crores went to polls today, along with the bye- elections in 4 ACs of 3 States (Karnataka, Nagaland and Tripura).
As part of the International Election Visitors’ Programme (IEVP), 38 delegates from 22 countries witnessed the poll proceedings.
Over 2.5 lakh Polling Staff reached the respective polling stations last night itself. Mock polls were completed before 7 AM today in the presence of over 1.8 lakh Polling Agents appointed by 1,899 contesting candidates and polling began peacefully at all 63,084 polling stations simultaneously.
Presiding Officers updated the Voter Turnout figures at the close of poll before leaving the polling station as per ECI’s latest instructions resulting in minimal delay in updation of approximate voter turnout trends.
A number of new voter-friendly initiatives such as easily identifiable colour photos of candidates on EVM ballot papers, Mobile Deposit Facility (MDF), newly designed Voter Information Slips (VIS) for easy readability and limit of electors upto 1,200 per polling station were ensured in these elections.
Polling stations were also provided with wheelchairs and tagging of volunteers to assist PwD voters. Transport facility was also provided to assist PwD voters in reaching their polling stations.
