Maharashtra voter turnout till fourth phase, marginally higher than 2019

MUMBAI: The voter turnout in four phases of the polls in Maharashtra so far was a marginal 0.4% higher than that in 2019, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam said on Friday. This comes amid concerns about a fall in the voter turnout in the Lok Sabha polls in the country so far. The state’s last phase of polling is on May 20th.

“In the last four phases, the average voter turnout was 62.9%. In 2019, the average for these constituencies was 62.5%. This is a very marginal rise of 0.4%,” said Chockalingam.

Indeed, he pointed out that in the fourth phase of the polls, the voter turnout was 1% higher than in 2019. This phase covered three districts in North Maharashtra, Marathwada and Western Maharashtra.

The average polling in the fourth phase was 62.2%, data shows. The voter turnout in the tribal-dominated Nandurbar was 70.7% while in Beed district from where BJP leader Panjaka Munde is contesting, the voter turnout was 70.9%. In Jalna, the epicentre of the Maratha protests, the voter turnout was 69%.

The voter turnout for phase one was 63.7%, phase two was 62.7% and for phase three it was 63.6%, he said.

Responding to complaints raised by NCP (SP) candidate Supriya Sule about CCTVs in the EVM warehouse in Baramati being switched off for 45 minutes, he said it was not a matter of concern because there was adequate security. “The CCTV is only additional technical help. But the fact is that the lock on the warehouse is not broken or tampered with,” said Chockalingam.

He pointed out that there were three tiers of security at the EVM warehouses which included a layer of CRPF, SRPF and then the state police.

Meanwhile, officials urged residents of Mumbai to come out and vote. In order to avoid delays and confusion, they urged citizens to check their polling booth and also to check if their name was on the voter’s list through the ECI portal on Eci.gov.in or the voter helpline app. If unable to locate the details, they could call 1950.

Officials reiterated that no cell-phones will be allowed within 100 metres of the polling booth. “People usually go to the booth with others. They can keep the cell-phone with a friend or relative at the booth,” said Chockalingam. The polling staff will be able to keep only upto 3 phones after issuing tokens, he said.

According to the latest data, Mumbai has 99.4 lakh registered voters. The highest number of 18 lakh voters are in the Mumbai North constituency. The lowest are in Mumbai South Central which has 14.7 lakh voters.

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