Maharashtra elections: State sees uptick in voter turnout at 66%, Kolhapur leads with 76.63%

Polls to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly were held on November 20, while votes will be counted tomorrow. (Courtesy: PTI photo)

Election Commission officials announced on November 21 that the final turnout in the Maharashtra assembly elections stood at 66.05 percent -- per EVM votes -- up from 61.1 percent in 2019.

Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly were held on November 20, while votes will be counted on November 23.

"The official figures for each assembly constituency will depend on the count of postal ballots reported. The 66 percent turnout figure refers specifically to the votes cast on electronic voting machines," the chief electoral officer said in a statement.

The increase, excluding postal ballots, highlighted the EC's efforts to engage a broader electorate, the statement added.

Kolhapur led with 76.63 percent voter turnout, followed by Gadchiroli at 75.26 percent; the lowest was recorded in Mumbai’s island city at 52.07 percent and 55.95 percent in the metropolis' suburban district.

The polling percentage for the Nanded Lok Sabha bypoll was 67.81 percent.

More than 68,000 citizens aged over 85 and 12,000 individuals with disabilities cast their votes through home voting.

"Additionally, 36,000 voters from essential services used postal voting. A total of 466,823 postal ballots were issued to voters on election duty, and around 16,000 Electronically Transmittable Postal Ballots (ETPB) were accepted for service voters," the statement from the chief electoral officer added.

It further said that the EC's second 'special summary survey revision' conducted in August and September added nearly 4 million new voters, with more than half of these registrations coming from the 18-19 age group.

Special attention was given to enrolling electors from the third gender, Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).

"To improve the voting experience, efforts were made to rationalise polling stations and reduce voter congestion. This de-clustering initiative affected over 5,800 locations, establishing over 1,100 polling stations in high-rise buildings and housing societies, as well as an additional 200 in slum areas across the state," the EC said.

The high volume of postal ballots has led to the establishment of 1,732 tables for postal ballot counting and 592 tables for ETPBMS scanning to ensure a smooth counting process across all assembly constituencies, the EC said.

(With PTI inputs)