Over 62% polling in 4th phase of Jharkhand Assembly polls covering 15 ACs

Shashank Shekhar

Ranchi (Jharkhand) : The 4th Phase of Jharkhand Assembly Elections was held on December 16, 2019, in 15 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) spread over four districts : Deoghar, Giridih, Bokaro, and Dhanbad. The poll today went off peacefully without any incident with very enthusiastic participation of voters including PWDs, senior citizens, youth etc. As per reports received till 5 pm, the approximate voter turnout figure for all the 15 ACs of 4th phase was 62.46 %.

According to Election Commission of India (ECI) sources 4,203 out of 6,101 polling stations (more than 69 %) were categorized as critical and accordingly adequate security arrangements were made. Altogether 74 polling stations required dispatching polling teams two days in advance and two choppers were deployed to drop 158 polling personnel. This phase covered 47,85,009 voters including 7,430 service voters and 64,318 PwD voters. Two Hundred Twentyone candidates including 22 female and 1 third gender candidates are in fray.

For the first time Absentee Voter status was provided to PwD and 80+ Voters of 3 Assembly Constituencies and they were given the facility to vote through Postal Ballot at their doorstep. A total of 1,216 PwD and 80+ voters exercised their franchise using this provision of Postal Ballot.

The ECI had put in place an elaborate mechanism to curb the misuse of money power. Total value of seizures across the State till December 16, 2019, is Rs 16.97 crore.