Voters after having cast their votes for the Lok Sabha polls at a polling station in Dimapur, Nagaland, on April 11. (Morung Photo by Manen Aier)
78.67% voter turnout in LS polls, 84.3% turnout in bye-election
Our Correspondent
Kohima | April 11
Nagaland’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Abhijit Sinha today said the Lok Sabha polls to Nagaland Parliamentary Constituency and bye-election to 26th Aonglenden Assembly Constituency passed off smoothly and peacefully.
The election was, by and large, peaceful and there was no incident of violence reported from any part of the State, he said.
Addressing a press conference here this evening, the CEO said the overall voter turn-out for Lok Sabha polls has been 78.67% (provisional) till 5:30 pm. For bye-election, the voter turn-out stands at 84.3%.
He said the voter turnout percentage might seem slightly increased and the actual figure will be known when all the polling parties report back.
Sinha said the quantity of EVMs which got replaced during mock poll was 35 Ballot Units, 54 Control Units and 68 VVPATs so compared to the past elections the failure percentage of EVMs was less, and this could be attributed to the trainings of personnel as well as the experience that they have gained for handling VVPAT in the past two elections.
A complaint was received at a polling station in Lumami regarding machine malfunction where pressing of a voting button gave the wrong light indication. He said the DC Zunheboto inquired into the matter and checked the machines along with the polling agents and polling personnel and it was found to be a false alarm.
Returning Officer (RO) & Nagaland Commissioner, M. Patton, said that in Chandmari, Kohima, some people attempted to cast proxy votes. However, when police intervened they all fled and there was no issue after that.
RO said they have not received any specific complaint about booth capturing.
Meanwhile, Sinha said that polling stations which will require scrutiny will be brought to Kohima where it will be scrutinized by the observers, RO and the candidates or his representatives on April 12 at 11:00 am at RO office, Kohima.
After scrutiny, the final decision will be taken regarding some complaints.
M. Patton said a complaint was also received from the NDPP regarding polling station no. 30 and 47 at Dimapur III A/C. The DEO was immediately directed to check and no complaint was received during poll process. He added that in another case, machines failed to work at polling stations no. 19 under 21-Tuli A/C and the machines had to be replaced from the neighboring sector.
