Lok Sabha polls: UP records voter turnout of 54.02 pc till 6 pm as Phase 6 concludes

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 25 : As the polling in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections concluded on Saturday, an approximate voter turnout of 54.02 per cent was recorded till 6 pm across the 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
The turnout figures till 6 pm were 55.50 percent in Sultanpur, 51.60 percent in Pratapgarh, 48.94 percent in Phulpur, 61.54 percent in Ambedkar Nagar, 52.76 percent in Shravasti, 56.67 percent in Basti, 52.63 percent in Sant Kabirnagar, 54.14 percent in Lalganj (SC), 56.07 percent in Azamgarh, 55.52 percent in Jaunpur, 54.43 percent in Machhilishahr (SC), 53.07 percent in Bhadohi, 51.10 percent in the Gainsari Assembly by-election, and 73.99 percent in the re-polling at polling place 343-Primary School Khiriya Pamaran under the Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency, according to the Election Commission of India data till 6 pm.
Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh, Navdeep Rinwa, said that the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha General Election-2024, encompassing 14 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state, as well as the by-elections in the Gainsari Assembly Constituency and re-polling at polling place 343-Primary School Khiriya Pamaran under the Farrukhabad Lok Sabha Constituency, was completed peacefully.
Addressing a press conference held at the Chief Electoral Officer's office, the UP CEC stated that to ensure a free and fair voting process, webcasting arrangements were made at 14,480 polling places for effective supervision.
This supervision was carried out at all three levels by the District Election Officer, the Chief Electoral Officer, and the Election Commission of India. Additionally, videography arrangements were made at 5,057 polling places, he said.
For the sixth phase of postal ballot voting, 40,175 voters in eligible categories (voters above 85 years of age, disabled, essential services and polling personnel) voted through postal ballot. Among voters above 85 years of age and disabled voters who had opted for postal ballot, voting was conducted by the polling team at their homes.
To ensure the process was free, fair, and transparent, a microobserver and videographer were deployed with the polling team and the schedule of the polling team was made available to the candidates, allowing them or their agents to observe the entire process. The list of eligible voters was also made available to the candidates. The entire voting process was videographed, he added.
Additionally, postal ballots were sent electronically (ETPBS) to a total of 35,532 service voters by the Returning Officer. EDC was issued to 12,494 personnel. To maintain vigilant oversight during the voting, 14 general observers, 8 police observers and 18 expenditure observers were also deployed by the Commission. In addition to this, 2,192 Sector Magistrates, 282 Zonal Magistrates, 24 Static Magistrates and 2,833 Micro Observers were also deployed.
The Election Commission also deployed one Senior General Observer, one Senior Police Observer and one Senior Expenditure Observer at the state level, who supervised the entire election process on-site. Some complaints were received during the voting, which were promptly addressed by the district officials.
EVMs and VVPATs required for voting were arranged for all 28,171 polling stations (polling booths) in the elections, with an adequate quantity of reserve EVMs and VVPATs available in different districts. Whenever complaints were received during voting, they were immediately addressed. Effective action was taken to replace faulty EVMs and VVPATs.
As per the ECI, a total of 191 ballot units (BU), 251 control units (CU) and 291 VVPATs were changed during the mock poll, and after the start of voting until 6 pm, a total of 72 BUs, 62 CUs and 215 VVPATs were changed. During the mock poll in the assembly sub-constituency Gainsari, 2 BUs, 10 CUs and 8 VVPATs were changed and after the start of voting, 1 BU, 1 CU, 4 VVPATs were changed till 6 pm.
In the 343-Khiriya Pamaran re-polling, no BUs, CUs, or VVPATs were changed after the mock poll and start of voting until 6 pm. The elections were conducted completely peacefully, with no reports of any untoward incidents.
In spite of hot weather in certain parts of the country, an approximate voter turnout of 59.82 per cent was recorded so far in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections on Saturday, according to Election Commission of India.