A provisional voter turnout of 60.01 per cent was recorded on Monday for the bypoll to the Naxal-affected Dantewada Assembly constituency in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh where the ruling Congress and opposition BJP are locked in a tight contest.
The final turnout percentage might go up as records from some polling teams posted at booths located in interior areas are yet to be received, he said.
A top official said polling passed off peacefully amidst heavy security without any untoward incident barring recovery of an IED on the route supposed to be taken by the BJP nominee for casting her vote. It was defused.
On the polling day, voters defied not only Maoist threats but also the tough terrain to exercise their franchise, he added.
The bypoll for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) constituency became necessary due to the death of sitting BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi in a naxal attack in April this year.
Notably, prominent candidates in the fray are the wives of Mandavi and senior Congress leader Mahendra Karma, who both were victims of naxal violence.
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Apart from them, seven other candidates are also in the poll arena.
While the BJP has fielded Ojaswi Mandavi, wife of slain Bhima Mandavi, the Congress candidate is Devti Karma whose husband Mahendra Karma was killed in the Jhiram Valley naxal attack in 2013.
"Dense forest, swollen river and Maoist threats failed to deter voters in Dantewada and they come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise," state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Subrat Sahoo told reporters in evening.
He said voting was held without any disturbances and in a fair and peaceful manner with the support of administration and security forces.
"A voter turnout of 60.01 per cent was recorded. However, the figure is provisional and it might go up. A total of 273 polling stations were set up for the bypoll and out of them reports from some teams are yet to be received," said Sahoo.
He said while polling teams have started returning to the district headquarter, some teams are expected to reach only in Tuesday in view of security reasons.
There were reports of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines developing a snag at four polling booths.
"They were replaced and polling went on without any disruption," he added.
In the 2018 assembly elections, the constituency had recorded a voter turnout of 60.62 per cent while it was 62.03 per cent in the previous polls, the CEO said.
Though no naxal-related incident was reported from the area during polling which began at 7 am and ended at 3 pm, security forces recovered a 5-kg IED planted by naxals and the 200-metre-long wire connected to it on Katekalyan-Parcheli road, which was supposed to be taken by BJP candidate Ojaswi Mandavi for reaching Gadapal village to cast her vote, he added.
The explosive was immediately defused, he added.
"A total of 28 polling booths were shifted from hyper-sensitive area to safer places in view of Maoists threats. Polling booths located on the other side of the Indravati river that flows through dense forest were shifted to this side in Muchnar and Chiindnar villages," said Sahoo.
He said motor boats, homegaurds and security forces were arranged to ferry villagers from the other side of the rive which is in spate due to rains.
"Barring Maoist threats, at least 1500 voters from the interiors villages crossed the river on boats wearing life jackets to cast their votes in Muchnar and Chhindnar," he added.
In a separate incident, a 33-year-old teacher, identified as Chandraprakash Thakur (33), on poll duty as presiding officer at Chikpal booth, died after complaining uneasiness before voting began, Sahoo said.
He was shifted to the community health centre in Katekalyan where he died during treatment, the CEO said.
Meanwhile, two former naxals--Kancha Bhima and Neelu-- cast their votes in Gumiyapal village in Kirandul area, a senior police official said.
They had surrendered to police recently.
Dantewada seat has 1,88,263 voters comprising 89,747 men and 98,876 women.
Counting of votes will be taken up on September 27.
Dantewada is the only seat in the Bastar region which the BJP managed to win in the 2018 assembly elections, which installed the Congress in power.
In the 2018 polls, Devti Karma lost to Bhima Mandavi by a thin margin of 2,172 votes from Dantewada.
In the 90-member state Assembly, the Congress won 68 seats last year and the BJP 15. The Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and the BSP had bagged five and two seats respectively.