NT NETWORK
PANAJI
The state has registered a voter turnout of 81.09 per cent in the assembly elections held on Saturday. During the 2012 assembly polls, the state had registered voter percentage of 82.9.
Keeping with the earlier trend, Goa’s female voters have once again outnumbered the male voters during this assembly election. The highest voter percentage of 89.24 per cent was recorded in Priol and the lowest was recorded in Curtorim (67.38%).
In the first two hours after commencement of the voting process, the 1,642 polling stations across the state recorded 15 per cent turnout, which later rose to 53 per cent by 1 pm and up to 62.32 per cent by 3 pm. Long queues of voters were witnessed at many polling stations beyond 5 pm taking the voter percentage to 81.09. The EVMs were sealed by 6 pm.
Many first-time female voters came out of the polling booths with more than just an indelible ink mark on their finger. Pink teddy bears were distributed at the especially designed polling stations in a bid to incentivise the young voters to vote.
The fate of 251 candidates including 19 female candidates fighting the polls to get elected to the 40-member legislative assembly is now sealed in the EVMs, which will be opened on March 11 for counting of the votes.
Addressing a press conference in the city on Saturday, chief electoral officer Kunal said that the election passed off peacefully with no untoward incident reported anywhere in the state except for the death of a 78-year-old man outside a polling booth in Panaji.
“There were some technical glitches in the machines so we had to replace 31 VVPAT machines, 21 ballot units and 34 control units during mock poll and actual polls. Voting had to be cancelled at polling booth number 8 in Margao and the election commission has been recommended to organize a re-poll,” Kunal said.
“It has been an impressive turnout – unprecedented and totally
peaceful. The result will further improve after we get the postal ballot and re-poll of polling station number 8,” Kunal said about the state election.
The 2012 and 2007 assembly elections had witnessed 82.9 per cent and 70.51 per cent, respectively. While referring to poll panel’s awareness campaign, Kunal said that the SVEEP strategy and efforts made in social media appealing to the voters to come out and vote seem to have paid off. The poll percentage of the first-time voters at the pink polling booths has increased by 2-5 per cent, which is higher than the average voter turnout in the polling booths of every constituency. The ‘divyang’ booth in Ribandar managed by polling staff with disability witnessed 85 per cent increase in the voter turnout.
Describing the election as eventful, Kunal said that Goa has become the first state in the country to implement the use of electronic transmission of postal ballot to 822 service voters. Goa has also become the first state to use VVPAT machines in the history of elections. This time, the polls were 100 per cent webcast to gain confidence of the people.