Peaceful polling held in Karnataka; turnout 65%

IANS/BangaloreOver 65% of the 43.6mn voters cast their ballots yesterday in the 14th Karnataka assembly election, an official said.“The percentage could go up once full details are in,” the official of the state election authorities said soon after polling closed at 6pm.Bangalore, which has earned notoriety for low polling, lagged behind most other districts in vote percentage - only about 55% of the 7mn voters exercised their franchise, the official said.“The polling was peaceful though there have been minor protests in some places over missing names or malfunctioning electronic voting machines or heated exchange of words among supporters of various contestants,” a Karnataka police spokesman said in Bangalore.Election officials said people stayed away from voting in some villages in north Karnataka protesting against lack of basic facilities like drinking water.The polling began on a brisk note, despite the hot weather across the state. The votes will be counted on May 8.With the Election Commission advancing commencement of polling by an hour to 7am, hundreds of voters made a beeline to booths in many of the 223 assembly constituencies.The EC also extended the duration of polling by an hour to 6pm, in view of the scorching summer heat across the state, including Bangalore.Polling was held for 223 of the state assembly’s 224 elected seats. Election from the Periyapatna constituency of Mysore district has been countermanded, following the death of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Sannamoge Gowda on April 29. Polling there will be held on May 28.In all, 52,034 booths were set up across the assembly segments, with 10,103 of them declared hyper-sensitive and 14,209 as sensitive.Of the state’s 61.13mn population, 43.6mn are registered voters, comprising 22.22mn men and 21.35mn women. First-time voters in the age group of 18-22 years are 3.55mn.As the state capital, Bangalore had the largest number of voters - 7.03mn of a total population of 10mn - and the highest number of assembly segments at 28.Among the eligible voters, 534,548 were first-timers, as they enrolled for this election in January.About 253,000 officials from state and central governments and state-run organisations were on poll duty, with 48,182 police personnel outside the booths and about 100,000 additional forces deployed around booths to maintain law and order.