Election Commission records increase in turnout to 60.68% from 60.32% in 2014

An estimated 57% voting was recorded in the fourth and final phase of polling for the State’s 48 Lok Sabha seats on Monday. The 17 constituencies which went to polls had recorded 55.59% polling in the 2014 general elections.

Mumbai also recorded an increase in total voting percentage with estimated turnout of 55.11% as compared to 51.59% in 2014.

With polling completed in all 48 Lok Sabha seats, the total voting percentage is expected to have touched 60.68% as compared to 60.32% in 2014.

Ashwini Kumar, Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer, on Monday said, “We thank the people of the State for coming out in large number to exercise their right.”

He said the estimated voter turnout for the 17 Lok Sabha seats that went to polls on Monday, till 6 p.m., was 57%. “The final figures will be announced tomorrow,” he added.

“The cumulative figure of Maharashtra voting in all four phases could be 60.68 per cent. The estimation includes final voting figures of first three phases and tentative figures of the fourth phase,” Mr. Kumar said.

New voters

Across the four phases, out of 8,85,64,098 registered voters, an estimated 5,37,41,204 exercised their franchise. There were 67.31 lakh new voters and 17 lakh names were omitted. Gadchiroli recorded the highest voting percentage of 71.98% while Kalyan recorded the lowest at 44.27%.

In terms of voter numbers, Thane with 21.60 lakh voters was the largest constituency in the State while Mumbai South with 14.40 lakh was the smallest. Beed in Marathwada saw the highest number of 32 candidates in the fray while Gadchiroli-Chimur and Dindori had the lowest number of candidates at five.

A total of 97,640 polling centres were set up this time, an increase of 8,161 as compared to the last elections. Around 7.49 lakh government employees along with 1.04 lakh police personnel were deployed during the entire process. The Election Commission had deployed 1,23,205 VVPATs.

Amount seized

According to Mr. Kumar, a total of ₹53.08 crore in cash, ₹70.12 crore in gold and ₹34.15 crore in alcohol was seized. As many as 17,588 complaints of election-related offences were registered with the ECI during the four-phase polling.

Dilip Shinde, additional Chief Election Officer, said 3,991 complaints were received through the Commission’s app, cVigil. “The ECI found 2,231 cases genuine and appropriate action has been initiated,” he said. (With PTI inputs)