84.23% voter turnout recorded in Anakapalle division

Visakhapatnam: The young and the old made a beeline to the polling booths from 6:30 am to cast their votes in panchayat elections in Anakapalle division on Tuesday. Barring a few stray incidents, polling went off peacefully in 12 mandals across the division as a part of the first phase of the local body polls.

Average poll percentage: The average poll percentage was 84.23 per cent in the district. The statistics include: Anakapalli (76%) Atchutapuram (87.75) Butchayyapeta (85.61), Cheedikada (86.50), Chodavaram (77.11), Devarapalli (86.77), K Kotapadu (86.94), Kasimkota (80.84), Madugula (86.26), Munagapaka (84.40), Rambilli (85.93) and Elamanchili (86.60).

In mandals like Elamanchili, V Madugula and Chodavaram, women voters constituted 60 per cent of the total count. Many of them arrived at the booths as early as 6:30 am and the voting exercise continued till 3:30 pm. in the first phase of the panchayat elections.

While some women voters carried their little ones and entered the polling station to cast their vote, the elderly sought the help of the cops to exercise their franchise.

For the first time, voters participating in the panchayat polls also got the opportunity to choose 'None of the Above' (NOTA).

The poll staff in 3,306 stations was armed with masks, gloves and sanitisers as a part of the Covid-19 safety protocol. It may be recalled that State Election Commissioner (SEC) N Ramesh Kumar expressed his dissatisfaction over voter turnout in Visakhapatnam when he visited the city ahead of the polls.

He exhorted the district officials to build awareness about the importance of exercising the franchise among people as Visakhapatnam touched 75 per cent turnout in the earlier polls. However, the turnout reached 84.23 per cent this time.

District Collector V Vinay Chand visited polling stations to examine the polling process and interacted with the election staff.