UP Phase 2, Goa, Uttarakhand polls: Goa tops voter turnout, Election Commission thanks people

New Delhi: On February 14, voters turned out in large numbers in Goa and in moderate numbers for Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh second phase polling. Polling was conducted peacefully in 36,823 polling stations spread across 165 Assembly Constituencies (AC) in the three states. The elections were conducted for single-phase elections in 40 ACs in Goa, 70 ACs in Uttarakhand and for 55 ACs in Uttar Pradesh's second phase of polls.

As per the Election Commission of India, Uttarakhand recorded 61.58 per cent voters' turnout in the Assembly elections, Goa achieved 78.94 per cent voters' turnout while Uttar Pradesh recorded 62.99 per cent voters' turnout, reported ANI. 

The Election Commission expressed gratitude to all stakeholders especially to the voters for their enthusiastic and fearless participation in the election process. The Commission particularly thanks PwD electors, senior citizens, and service voters for taking part in elections honouring COVID protocol norms.

The Commission had laid great emphasis on ensuring proper arrangements at the polling stations. Voters set an example of Covid-appropriate behaviour following due protocols of sanitization and social distancing. 

Nearly 2.95 crore general electors including over 5 lakh first-time electors, spread across 36,823 polling stations were registered to exercise their franchise across 165 ACs in the three states. The number of Polling Stations has increased in view of the fact that the number of voters per polling station has been reduced from 1500 to 1250 keeping in view of the social distancing norms. As part of the Commission`s initiative to provide a comfortable experience to women voters, 334 All Women-Managed polling stations were set up across the 165 ACs. As a major push in conducting free and fair elections, live monitoring and webcasting mechanism for more than 50 per cent of polling stations including critical and vulnerable polling booths was put in place to ensure a safe and secure atmosphere in polling areas. Commission, CEOs, DEOs, Observers could watch live streaming and keep a close watch on these polling booths. Webcasting arrangements were put in place for all 1722 polling stations in Goa, 5828 Polling Stations in Uttarakhand and 11,448 polling stations for the second phase in Uttar Pradesh.

There were a total of 1,519 candidates contesting in this phase across Goa, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh which included 158 women candidates. In this phase, over 2.19 lakh PwD electors and 4.67 lakh 80+ electors were registered to vote across 165 ACs. 

(With ANI inputs)