(LiveMint)
Altogether 65.5% voters exercised their franchise in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections on Wednesday, just over 7% less than the figure in the previous polls. In the 2013 Assembly election, 72.69% turnout was recorded, an election official said. The polling on Wednesday was marred by complaints of faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVVPAT) machines. Poll officials said 1,145 EVMs and 1,545 VVPATs were replaced after complaints of technical snags.
Polling was held between 8am and 5pm in 227 seats, while in three assembly segments — Lanji, Paraswada and Baihar — in the Naxal-affected Balaghat district, the voting time was between 7 am to 3pm, state Chief Electoral Officer V.L. Kantha Rao said. About 2.5% (polling) machines were replaced, Rao said, adding this percentage was around 2% in other states where elections were held recently. Three employees died due to “health reasons” while performing poll duty in Dhar, Indore and Guna districts, he said.
