Nagaland Bypolls See 67.92% Voters Turnout

Around 67.92 per cent of total 43,242 voters turnout were recorded till 1 pm in by-polls to two assembly seats in Nagaland on Tuesday, election officials said.

As reported by PTI, Southern Angami-1 seat in Kohima district recorded 57.1 per cent polling, while 78.75 per cent of voters have cast their ballots in Pungro Kiphire constituency in Kiphire district. Polling began at 6 am in both the seats, they said, adding no untoward incident has been reported so far.

The fates of eight candidates in the two seats will be sealed in EVMs by 4 pm, the report read.

Adequate security personnel has been deployed and COVID-19 safety measures are in place for smooth conduct of the by-elections, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Abhijit Sinha said.

A total of 13,641 people are eligible to cast their votes in 22 polling stations in Southern Angami-1 and 29,601 people can vote in 23 polling booths in Pungro Kiphire, Sinha said.

More than 50 per cent of the polling stations in Southern Angami-1 and 40 per cent in Pungro-Kiphire have been identified as critical and vulnerable, he said.

Webcast and static video recordings are being conducted in all the polling booths to ensure free and fair elections, the CEO said.

Measures such as thermal screening, providing masks, sanitisers, and hand gloves to voters, and demarcating polling areas to ensure social distancing have been undertaken, the report added.