Ranchi, November 21 (IANS). The Election Commission released the voting figures for the 81-member assembly in Jharkhand on Thursday evening. State Chief Electoral Officer K. Releasing the figures in a press conference, Ravi Kumar said that a total of 67.74 percent voting was recorded during the elections held in two phases. The voting percentage will increase further after counting of postal ballots.
The most important thing is that in this election, women voters have left men behind in the matter of exercising their franchise. A total of 1 crore 76 lakh 81 thousand seven (1,76,81,007) people exercised their franchise in the entire state. Among these, the number of women voters was 5 lakh 51 thousand 797 (5,51,797) more than that of men. A total of 85 lakh 64 thousand 524 (85,64,524) men exercised the franchise compared to 91 lakh 16 thousand 321 (91,16,321) women.
There were 68 out of 81 assembly seats in the state where women voted more than men. These also include all the 28 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes i.e. tribals. There are only 13 seats including Deoghar, Bokaro, Sindri, Nirsa, Dhanbad, Jharia, Baghmara, Barkagaon, Jugsalai, Jamshedpur East, Ichagarh, Seraikela and Ranchi, where men have cast more votes than women.
Similarly, more voting has been recorded in rural areas than in cities. The Chief Electoral Officer said that counting centers have been set up in all the 24 district headquarters of the state to count the votes. Counting of votes will begin at 8 am on November 23. Postal ballots will be counted first. Counting of EVM votes will start from 8.30 am.
The result of the first round of counting is expected at 9.30 pm. All EVMs are sealed in the strong room after scrutiny in a two-tier security system. The first level of security is the responsibility of the Central Paramilitary Forces. The second level security arrangements are being handled by the state armed forces personnel.
He said that the security arrangements will be three-tier on the day of counting. The third level security arrangements will be the responsibility of the state police. He said that since the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct in the state, illegal materials and cash worth Rs 207 crore have been seized. At the same time, a total of 100 cases have been registered for violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
–IANS
SNC/ABM
