Slight dip in voter turnout in Chhattisgarh compared to 2013: EC data

Chhattisgarh recorded 76.35 per cent voter turnout in the two-phase polls to the 90-member state assembly, which is sightly lower as compared to the last elections, the Election Commission said Wednesday while releasing the final voting figures.

The second phase of polling, held on Tuesday in 72 assembly seats, recorded 76.34 per cent voter turnout, the commission said.

In the first phase, the poll percentage was 76.39. The overall voter turnout of both the phases comes out to 76.35 per cent, it said.

A total of 38 seats out of 90 recorded above 80 per cent voter turnout, which the EC said, is a record for Chhattisgarh.

In the 2013 assembly polls, the voting percentage was 75.93 per cent and 77.72 per cent in the two phases respectively. The overall voter turnout was 77.40 per cent.

This year, the voter turnout dipped by 1.05 per cent as compared to 2013, according to data from the EC.

As many as 13 cases of people boycotting polls over a variety of reasons including jobs, road construction and removal of encroachments were recorded.

The commission also said that at the 19,336 polling stations in the second phase of polls, a total of 25,640 ballot units, 19,336 control units and 19,336 paper trail machines were used.

Only 47 ballot units, 37 control units and 131 paper trail machines needed replacement during the polls.

Given sufficient reserves available, these replacements were handled swiftly by local polling personnel, the EC said.

Voters aged above 100 excercised their voting rights in Balodabazar and Lundra. These included a 113-year-old woman in Chirmiri and a 100-year-old couple in Jashpur, the poll panel said.

In phase 2, rural areas recorded a high turnout (by two to seven percentage points)compared to urban areas. In 23 assembly seats, women voters outnumbered men. The largest gap between men and women voters was 3.54 per cent in Bharatpur Sonhat seat in Koriya.

The Kurud seat recorded 88.99 pere cent turnout, the highest in the state. Raipur (North), the commission said, recorded the lowest turnout of 60.3 per cent.