Tamil Nadu records 39.49% voting

Chennai:A total of 39.49 per cent electorate cast their votes till 1 p.m. in Tamil Nadu's 38 Lok Sabha constituencies on Thursday, said a senior election official.

Speaking to reporters Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo said 42.92 per cent polling was recorded for the by-elections in 18 Assembly seats being held simultaneously.

He said a total of 384 faulty electronic voting machines and 692 faulty Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines were replaced across the state.

Polling is smooth and there are no reports of voting being stalled due to faulty machines, he said.

He said voters who do not have the booth slips can cast their ballots by showing any one of the permitted identity papers.

About 5.8 crore voters will decide the fate of 822 candidates in the Lok Sabha battle. Polling started at 7 a.m. and would continue till 6 p.m.

Among the early voters were Chief Minister K. Palaniswami, DMK President M.K. Stalin, actor-politician Rajinikanth, DMDK leader Vijayakanth, PMK's S. Ramadoss and Anbumani Ramadoss, Congress' P. Chidambaram, BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararjan, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan and DMK leader Kanimozhi as well as actors Ajith, Vijay and Surya.