Bhubaneswar: The Chief Electoral Officer of Odisha, Surendra Kumar told mediapersons here Thursday that approximately 41 per cent polling has been recorded till 1.00 pm in the four Lok Sabha and 28 Assembly seats. Till now, no untoward incidents have been reported in any constituency of Odisha.
The polling started in 7.00am in almost all the booths. However, he said, there was a delay of about 30 to 40 minutes in few polling stations due to technical problems in EVMs or VVPATs, stated Kumar.
“Our sector officers intervened and replaced the error-prone voting machines in those booths,” the CEO said. He further said no additional time will be given in those booths as there is no such provision in the law.
Kumar also informed media that 20 out of 28 Assembly segments are affected by Maoists, so polling will stop there at 4.00 pm. The voting will continue till 6.00 pm in remaining eight assembly segments. But, the voters, who will be there in queue till that time will only be allowed to cast their votes.
The Lok Sabha constituencies which went to polls are Kalahandi, Nabrangpur, Berhampur and Korput while the 28 Assembly segments are Umerkote, Nuapada, Khariar, Nabrangpur, Jharigam, Dabugam, Gopalpur, Koraput, Pottangi, Lanjigarh, Junagarh, Dharamgarh, Malkangiri, Bhawanipatna, Narla, Chhatrapur, , Berhampur, Digapahandi, Chikiti, Mohana, Paralakhemundi, Gunupur, Bissam Cuttack, Rayagada, Laxmipur, Kotpad, Jeypore, and Chitrakonda.