More than 75 per cent of the voters turned up to exercise their franchise in the Assembly elections in Udupi district on Sunday, according to the tentative figures provided by the district administration here.
The voter turnout in the five Assembly constituencies in the district was: Udupi — 76 per cent; Kaup — 72 per cent; Karkala — 79 per cent; Kundapur — 75 per cent; and Byndoor – 76 per cent. There was nearly 80 per cent voter turnout in the Maoists-affected villages in the district.
The polling was by and large peaceful in the district barring a few incidents, where the police had to disperse crowds gathered within 200 metres of the polling booths.
Superintendent of Police M.B. Boralingaiah said that there was some tension when police tried to disperse a crowd at a polling booth in Marvanthe village. But the police managed to pacify the people there, he said.
Minor glitches
Deputy Commissioner M.T. Reju said that in some places there were minor glitches in the electronic voting machines (EVMs), which were set right by the technicians from Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) in 10 minutes. But there was no incident of major malfunctioning or replacement of EVMs anywhere in the district.
Mr. Reju said that there were seven cases of voters deciding not to cast their votes under Section 49 (O) of The Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, in the district.
Polling began on a dull note at 7 a.m. in the district, but gained momentum as the day progressed.
At Government Higher Primary School booth at Hanumant Nagar in Udupi, there was a big queue and 18.44 per cent of voters had cast their votes by 9.40 a.m.
There was 42.34 per cent of voter turnout at the Government Lower Primary School booth at Gavali village in Kundapur Assembly Constituency by 10.45 a.m.
