THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, Nov 13: Preliminary report indicated 62.62 per cent of voting in Palamu district which has five assembly constituencies.
District Election Officer (DEO) cum Deputy Commissioner Shashi Ranjan said, “This is the first-hand figure. Let there come the voting percentage in detail. We expect a rise of little over 1 per cent or so.”
Addressing urban apathy
Urban apathy played, once again, a major deterrent to good polling. Shashi Ranjan said the administration would assess this urban apathy adding this Vidhan Sabha election they have been able to further nail down 3 per cent of urban apathy that was seen in this year’s Lok Sabha election.
There was much higher urban apathy here in the Lok Sabha election which is 3 per cent down this election but it calls for scrutiny.
Also Read- Jharkhand records 64.86 per cent voter turnout till 5 pm
Poll boycott at 3 booths resolved
As regards the poll boycott, three booths in the Hussainabad assembly constituency had initial hiccups not to vote which were tactfully dealt with by the officials there and then voters began to shed off their reluctance to vote.
Shashi Ranjan said he would be able to tell about the percentage of voting here only on Thursday but he said, “Voting was good at these 3 booths.”
On being asked about any possibility of re-poll, the DC said as of now there is no contraindication to any re-poll as everywhere polling was peaceful.
13 ballot units replaced
13 ballot units got dysfunctional during the polls which were replaced within one hour. He reiterated the replacement time didn’t affect the polling as voters had no complaint about the time hour and the polling parties took utmost care of the convenience of the voters in respect of their voting.
All polled EVMs would be stored and protected in strict accordance with the SoP laid down by the ECI.
Shashi Ranjan said he and his team would be sitting with the contestants or their representatives on Thursday, November 14 for further incoming electoral procedures.