SHILLONG, Feb 27: More than 77% of Meghalaya’s 21.61 lakh voters exercised their franchise on Monday.
Chief electoral officer, Frederick Roy Kharkongor said the figure of 77.67% at 10 p.m. was not final as reports from many polling stations were yet to come in.
“Voting continued beyond 9 pm in more than 400 polling stations while some 200 polling teams are expected to reach their destinations after 9 pm,” he told journalists at a customary briefing.
The turnout is expected to be less than the 85.59% clocked in 2018.
Stating that the polling in the state was by and large peaceful, Kharkongor said there were reports of some electronic voting machines malfunctioning. The replacement percentage for ballot units, control units and VVPATs were 0.82, 0.79 and 2.69 respectively, he said.
The exercise was conducted across 3,419 polling stations in 59 Assembly constituencies and 1,830 of these polling stations were under webcasting, he said. Voting in the Sohiong constituency was postponed after the death of United Democratic Party candidate HDR Lyngdoh.
Kharkongor said female voters appeared to have outnumbered their male counterparts and the enthusiasm among first-time voters, senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PwDs) was high.
While 91.8% of senior citizens who applied for form 12D voted, about 95% of the PwDs turned out.
The first five voters in each booth were felicitated with a medal each.
“Polling was brisk in the morning but things went sluggish in the afternoon,” Kharkongor said, adding that there were reports of two group clashes in Phulbari and one in West Shillong.
He said a team followed up on a complaint lodged by South Shillong’s KAM Meghalaya candidate about the distribution of money by some candidates. But no such activity was detected at the spot.
He also played down the reported proxy voting in Mizo Higher Secondary School and in Mawpat. A person voting for another with a similar name is the outcome of the callousness of polling officials, he said.
The run-up to the polls was marked by the seizure of cash, drugs and other items worth a total of Rs 74.18 crore, which was 20 times more than Rs 1.15 crore seized during 2018.
The counting of votes on March 2 would start at 13 centres from 8 am. The counting centres would be guarded by 22 companies of central armed paramilitary forces.
The Election Commission will deploy 27 counting observers and 549 micro observers, Kharkongor said.
