VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh has recorded 80.66% polling, which is the highest than any other State that went to polling in the first four phases of elections in the country. Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena said when 1.1% of the postal ballot is added, the total polling in the State comes to 81.86%.
The highest polling in the Assembly constituencies happened in Darsi at 90.91%, while the lowest voter turnout was reported in Tirupati at 63.32%. In the Lok Sabha constituencies, the highest polling of 87.06% was reported in Ongole, and the lowest of 71.11% in Visakhapatnam. In 2014, the polling percentage in the State was 78.41%, which increased to 79.77% in 2019, and now in 2024, it rose to 80.66%, 1.1% through postal ballot and the total voting of 81.86% that is almost 82%, which has been the target the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been working for before the elections through various voter awareness programmes.
“Large turnout of voters on May 13 is a welcome sign of the democracy. We took every measure that every voter arriving at the polling station was able to exercise their franchise. There was a good turnout in the morning and it decreased a bit in the afternoon, but after 4 pm, a large number of voters turned up at the polling centres. At 6 pm., in as many as 3,500 polling stations, voters were in queues in large numbers to cast their votes. It took midnight at some places and the last polling station to complete the polling process was at 2 am on the next day,” he explained.
The CEO said the delay in voting was due to weather conditions, as heavy rains disrupted the polling for some time in Udayagiri, Konaseema, and some places in Uttarndhra. Under the supervision of election observers, all the EVMs were sealed and shifted to strong rooms. “A total of 175 strong rooms for the Assembly segments were set up,” he said.
A total of 4.97 lakh people availed of the postal ballot, which includes those who opted for home voting (85 plus aged and persons with disabilities), government employees on election duty, and essential service personnel.
On the occasion, he explained how the election officials had ensured that 2,000 voters belonging to Visakhapatnam came from Maharashtra region by train, but were delayed. The election officials coordinated with railway officials and ensured a green channel for the train they were travelling in and the train reached Vizag by 5.27 pm. “This shows that the Election Commission of India is making every effort to ensure the voters can exercise their right to vote,” he added.
He also explained how the election commission has allowed the police officials from the State on duty in Maharashtra to avail their vote by giving special casual leave amending the existing rules.