Rajasthan records 72.62% voter turnout; Telangana 67%: Election Commission

Pic Courtesy: IANS

A voter turnout of 72.62 per cent was recorded in the assembly elections in Rajasthan on Friday while in Telangana, the figure was 67 per cent, the Election Commission said. Counting in these two states and in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram will take place on December 11.

The commission said the figures were based on initial reports available at 5.00 PM as voters were still standing in queues and the final tally would be available later.

It said the final figures could be more than what have been made available now.

Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha said till 5.00 PM, Telangana recorded 67 per cent voter turnout. It was 69.5 per cent in the previous assembly polls.

Another Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena said Rajasthan recorded 72.62 per cent voter turnout. It was 75.23 per cent in 2013 assembly polls and 63.02 per cent in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain, in charge of EVMs said that in Telangana, 0.86 per cent of the ballot units, 0.95 per cent of the control units and 2.92 per cent of the paper trail machines were replaced.

In Rajasthan, 0.31 per cent of ballot units, as many control units and 1.45 per cent of paper trail machines were replaced.

"The replacement number is going down. It is stabilising ... Training of polling personnel has ensured that lesser number of faults take place during voting," he said.

One control unit and one ballot unit make up for electronic voting machine.

As many as four ballot units can be attached with the control unit. Each ballot unit has 16 buttons, including one for the none of the above (NOTA) option. If the candidates exceed 16, another ballot unit can be attached. In the new M3 EVM, the limitation of 16 buttons is no more there.

Responding to a question on 'missing names' in Telangana's voter list, Sinha said the issue has been flagged and the EC will look into it after the election process is over.