Phase 1 of Gujarat Assembly Election 2022 records 63.14% voting

GANDHINAGAR, Gujarat: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday, December 2, highlighted that the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections recorded a voter turnout of 63.14 per cent. Phase one of the assembly election covered 89 seats which are spread across 19 districts, and the voting took place on Thursday, December 1.

During the Assembly elections held in 2017, the voter turnout in the first phase of election for the same 89 constituencies stood at 66.75 per cent, and the cumulative voting percentage of both phases stood at 68.41 per cent.

Earlier, the State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said that polling began at eight in the morning in 14,382 polling stations, of which 3,311 fall in urban areas and 11,071 polling stations fall in rural areas. Around 788 candidates are contesting for 89 seats out of a total of 182.

There are 4,91,35,400 registered voters in Gujarat, and 2,39,76,670 are eligible to exercise franchise in this first phase of elections. The State CEO added that 5.74 lakh voters fall in the age group of 18-19, and 4,945 are above the age of 99.

As per the Election Commission, tribal-dominated Narmada district has recorded the highest voting percentage, which stood at around 78.24 per cent, followed by the Tapi and Navsari districts with voting percentages of 76.91 and 71.06, respectively. On the other hand, Botad district recorded the lowest voter turnout of 57.58 per cent, closely followed by Amreli with 57.59 per cent voting.

The election body said that it has received 104 complaints during the voting process, which include six complaints regarding malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), two regarding bogus voting, 30 concerning law and order and 36 complaints of violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). 

The second phase of elections, in which the fate of 833 candidates is at stake, will take place on December 5, and votes will be counted on December 8.