Average Polling In Odisha In Final Phase Of Polls 73.08%: CEO

Bhubaneswar: The average polling in Odisha after the fourth and final phase polls was 73.08 per cent, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Surendra Kumar said on Wednesday.

He said the highest polling of 78.89 per cent in Lok Sabha polls was recorded in Nabarangpur while Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency recorded the lowest polling of 59.60 per cent.

In the Assembly elections, the highest polling of 86.83 per cent was recorded in Kotpad while Bhubaneswar-Central recorded the lowest polling of 43.04 per cent.

Referring to the cyclonic storm Fani, Kumar said steps are being taken for the safety of electronic voting machines kept in the districts that are most likely to be affected.

“It has been decided to shift the EVMs at two places in Jagatsinghpur and Gajpati districts. In Jagatsinghpur, the EVMs kept inside the rooms on the ground floor of the SVM College will be shifted to rooms on the first floor. Besides, EVMs kept in the strongrooms in Mohana block headquarters in Gajapati district will be shifted to a newly built EVM godown inside the office premises of the district collector,” the CEO said.

He, however, said shifting of EVMs will be carried out in the presence of representatives of all political parties and the entire process will be videographed.