: While initial trends in the morning led election officials to anticipate a record turnout in the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday, the final figure settled at a number similar to that of the 2009 elections.
Speaking to reporters, Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Kumar said 72.8 per cent of the 5.5-crore electorate cast their vote, compared with 73.05 per cent in 2009. “The final turnout figures will be available on Friday. We expect it to be similar.”
However, the actual number of voters who exercised their franchise this time was 80 lakh higher than what it was in 2009, he said. “You should keep in mind that the electorate has grown. Lot more people voted if you take actual numbers,” he said. Mr. Kumar said polling was peaceful across the State. “Officials replaced 129 Electronic Voting Machines that malfunctioned. Voting was not suspended for any other reason but these glitches,” he said. Five villages in five different constituencies boycotted polling despite persuasion from authorities.
On criticism of political parties about the imposition of prohibitory orders, Mr. Kumar said Section 144 immensely helped the authorities curb money distribution. In the two days before polling, he said, over Rs. 70 lakh was seized. “Eighty per cent of this was from a particular party,” he said.
Data showed that the seven reserved constituencies together polled an average of 74.28 per cent, compared with 73.62 in 2009. However, Kancheepuram (SC), showed a trend similar to Chennai, registering just 64.63 per cent, way below the State’s average. This was a drop by almost 10 per cent from the 2009 figures. On the glitches in the SMS-based monitoring system, he said it was rectified.
(With inputs from V. S. Palaniappan)
