Guj polls: EC urges voters to raise turnout in second phase

“Major cities/ urban areas of Gujarat have not only recorded a decline in voting percentage as compared to 2017 elections but have also voted much less than the state average of 63.3%,” a release from the ECI read.

The Election Commission of India has raised concerns over the low turnout recorded in the first phase of Gujarat assembly elections. The first phase of voting for 89 seats was held on December 1 with an average turnout of 63.31% compared to the 66.79% recorded in 2017, around the same time.

Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar expressed concerns over the turnout and urged the voters to come out in large numbers during the second phase of the polls, scheduled on 5 December. (PTI)

“Major cities/ urban areas of Gujarat have not only recorded a decline in voting percentage as compared to 2017 elections but have also voted much less than the state average of 63.3%,” a release from the ECI read.

Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar expressed concerns over the turnout and urged the voters to come out in large numbers during the second phase of the polls, scheduled on 5 December.

The Election Commission, however, noted that the voting percentage had increased in many constituencies but the average voter turnout figure could have supposedly been affected by “urban apathy”.

“The possibility of surpassing 2017 voting percentage now lies in their increased participation only, “ the ECI stated. “Also, average turnout in important urban areas is lower than the turnout in rural constituencies... for example, in Rajkot, there is a decline in all the urban assembly constituencies,” the ECI said.

Gujarat chief electoral officer P Bharti also requested the urban voters to participate in the voting.

“I request the urban area voters to leave all other works for a while and please participate in the voting on Monday. During the first phase, many voters could not cast their votes because instead of showing valid documents like the voter ID, EPIC card and other ECI approved documents, they came to the polling booths with the voter slips, which is only for information purposes,” Bharti said.

“Also, many urban voters reached the polling booths after 5:00 pm due to which they were not allowed,” said the officer.

The ECI has also directed all the chief election officers to identify low voter turnout assembly constituencies. It has urged all polling stations to carry out targeted awareness interventions to amplify voting percentage.