Final First-Phase Polling 73.76% In Odisha: CEO

Bhubaneswar: The final polling percentage in the first phase Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha held on Thursday was 73.76, said Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Surendra Kumar on Friday.

He said there was a delay in calculating the final voter turnout as polling continued at some booths till midnight. “On the basis of the final data available with us after the completion of the elections, the polling percentage in the first phase in the state is 73.76,” Kumar told the media here.

The CEO further said that the number of female voters was more than the male. “74.43 per cent female voters exercised their franchise as against 73.09 per cent male voters,” he added.

Talking about the voting percentage in four Lok Sabha constituencies, the CEO said Kalahandi posted 75.82 followed by Nabarangpur (78.89), Berhampur (65.57) and Koraput (74.77).

In terms of booth-wise polling percentage, the highest polling of 86.83 per cent was recorded in Kotpad and the lowest in booth no-133 in Berhampur.

Kumar further informed that there will be re-polling in two booths, one in Malkangiri and the other in Berhampur.

“In one of the two booths, it has been alleged that the EVM box were thrown away while in the other, there are irregularities due to the mistakes by the presiding officer concerned,” he added.