AIZWAL: The voting for the 40-member Mizoram Assembly began at 7 am amid tight security on Wednesday. The polling will end at 4 pm. As many as 209 candidates in the fray.


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The battle is primarily between the Congress and the Mizo National Front though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also seeking to make its presence felt. The Congress is striving for a third successive term against a stiff challenge from the Mizo National Front (MNF) headed by former Chief Minister Zoramthanga.


Both Congress and MNF are contesting on all 40 constituencies this time, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is fighting in 39 seats.


The results will be declared on December 11.


Here are the highlights of Mizoram Assembly Elections 2018:


* 75 per cent voter turnout in Mizoram, says Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain.


* Polling ends in Mizoram. About 71 per cent votes were recorded at the end of polling. 


* 58% voter turn out recorded till 3 pm.


*A 106-year-old woman after casting her vote in Kawrthah. #MizoramElections (Pic courtesy: Office of the Chief Electoral Officer) pic.twitter.com/OSd47D4Adb



 


* 49% voter turnout recorded till 1 pm.


* 29% voting recorded in Mizoram till 11 am.


* "Conducive situation and favourable weather helped the people to exercise their franchise smoothly. Except for a few EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines)- VVPAT (Voters Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) device malfunctioning, no untoward incident was reported so far. Like previous elections, polling was absolutely peaceful. As Mizo society is very disciplined and Church guided, electioneering has always been incident-free in the state," said.


*Nearly 25 per cent of 7.68 lakh voters casting their votes by 10 am, Deputy Additional Chief Electoral Officer CC Lalchhuangkina told IANS.


* 15 per cent voting recorded in Mizoram till 9 am: Election Commission 


* Former chief minister and opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) chief Zoramthanga was among the first ones to exercise franchise at 7 am. Zoramthanga cast his vote at Ramhlun polling booth in Aizawl North-II constituency.


*Bru voters from six relief camps in North Tripura district arrived at Kanhmun village, along Mizoram-Tripura border, where 15 temporary polling stations were erected around 6 am. The voters had to walk around 500 metres from the interstate border to reach the polling stations, where members of local civil societies welcomed them with pork curry.


 


*An elderly woman after casting her vote at a polling station in Kanhmun #MizoramElections pic.twitter.com/95FxeIAyVb



 


*Voting underway in Mizoram, visuals of people queuing up to vote at a polling station in Kanhmun #MizoramElections pic.twitter.com/VykFjNTYEm



 


* Polling underway in Mizoram, visuals of voters in Zarkawt-II, Aizawl #MizoramElections pic.twitter.com/Ji45y7B2XE



* Of the 209 candidates in the fray in this elections, 15 are women. In 2013, only six women had contested and none were successful.


* Around 7,075 electoral officials have been engaged to conduct the elections. The Election Commission has set up 15 special polling stations at Kanhmun, a village along the Mizoram-Tripura border, to facilitate voting by Reang tribal refugees, sheltered in Tripura for the past 21 years. Of the over 35,000 tribal immigrants, 11,232 are eligible to cast their votes in the Assembly elections. Forty all-women managed polling stations have been set up across the constituencies in which the entire polling staff, including the police and security personnel, are women.


* A senior Mizoram Police official said that around 11,100 security personnel comprising central para-military and state security forces have been deployed to further tighten the security to foil any attempt to create any trouble during the Wednesday`s polling. Mizoram shares 310-km unfenced borders with Bangladesh and 510-km boundaries with Myanmar without any fencing. The Border Security Force (BSF) troopers have been deployed along the Bangladesh borders, while the Assam Rifles, under the Army, have been posted along at the Myanmar borders.


* Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla is contesting from two seats - Serchhip and Champhai South. In Serchhip, Thanhawla will be contesting against Zoram People`s Movement`s (ZPM) chief ministerial candidate Lalduhoma, Mizo National Front (MNF) nominee C Lalramzauva and People`s Representation for Identity and Status of Mizoram (PRISM) party chief Vanlalruata among others.
In the Champhai South, the incumbent Chief Minister would contest against MNF`s T J Lalnuntluanga and ZPM`s C Lalremliana.


*In 2013 elections, Congress had fielded 40 candidates while it won 34 seats, whereas Mizo National Front (MNF) secured only five seats after contesting 31 seats. Mizoram People`s Conference (MPC) had contested on eight seats but it managed to bag only one.