Bhubaneswar: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sushil Kumar Lohani said Tuesday that bypolls to Tirtol and Balasore Sadar Assembly constituencies were continuing smoothly. Till 3.00pm 55.23 per cent voter turnout has been recorded for the Tirtol constituency while for Balasore Sadar the figure stands at 54.85 per cent. Average polling for the two constituencies have been 55.04 per cent, Lohani said.
In the first elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Odisha, both the Tirtol and Balasore Sadar constituencies have been experiencing brisk polling since Tuesday morning. All the voters are following COVID-19 protocols while exercising their rights.
By 1.00pm Tuesday both Tirtol and Balasore Sadar constituencies had recorded 39.68 and 41.36 voting percentage respectively. Polling began at 7.00am in the two constituencies and from the morning there were queues in front of the booths. With the aim to maintain social distancing and prevent crowding the the number of booths in both the constituencies have been increased. In Balasore Sadar the total number of booths has been increased from 198 to 346 while in Tirtol the number of booths stood at the 373. In the 2019 Assembly elections, the Tirtol had 265 booths.
PNN