SHILLONG: Chief Electoral Officer Frederick Kharkongor attributed the reduced percentage of voting in Ranikor to the weather factor.
The percentage of 88.9 in the by-poll is less than the February 27 Assembly polls when the percentage was 89.5.
Addressing a news conference on Thursday, Kharkongor said the sky was overcast and there was drizzling, which may have led to the drop in percentage.
Initially, polling was slow but it picked up gradually, he said.
For South Tura (72.89 percent), there was a decrease of over one percent compared to the last polls (73.59).
To a question on whether there was urban apathy, the official said there was not much difference in South Tura percentage and the pattern was the same in the past.
Though Kharkongor admitted a few glitches in EVM machines, there were no complaints regarding the clearing of mock poll data.
Runners cover
long hours
Out of 10 runners, some covered the maximum of three and a half hours from one point to the polling stations while others covered less than 2 km.
To a question on the payment to the runners, Kharkongor said, “Runners are treated as polling volunteers and they are at the disposal of the deputy commissioner.”
Kharkongor said women and people with disabilities came out in large numbers as this was the year of accessible election.
In Ranikor, one control unit and four VVPAT machines malfunctioned and later they were rectified and in Tura, three control units had glitches.
