Bhubaneswar: Approximately 61.71 percent of 94.41 lakh voters have exercised their franchise till evening in six Lok Sabha and 42 Assembly constituencies spread over 10 districts in the third phase of election held today.
ECI sources said a maximum of 69.19 percent of voters voted in the Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency followed by 66.52 percent in Keonjhar, 66.50 percent in Puri, 60.88 percent in Dhenkanal, 54.36 percent in Cuttack, and 53.54 percent in Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency.
Similarly, Kuchinda Assembly constituency reported the highest polling of 81.38 percent and Barabati-Cuttack Assembly segment reported the lowest voting turnout of 42.10 percent.
The Six Lok Sabha and 42 Assembly seats will seal the electoral fortunes of 447 candidates, including 43 women candidates. Reports of group clash and rigging were received from several booths but it has not been confirmed by official sources.
In several places voting was delayed due to malfunctioning of EVMs for more than two hours. Long queues were seen in front of several polling booths even after 6 pm.
Around 35,000 security personnel including 121 companies of central armed police force (CAPF) and 106 platoons of Odisha armed police and 19,865 civil police personnel have been deployed for the third phase elections, said DGP Arun Sarangi.
To ensure smooth conduct of elections, five young IPS officers of ASP rank have been mobilized for Sambalpur, Khurda, Keonjhar and Cuttack districts while 42 Assembly Supervising Officers in the rank of additional SP with striking force, he said.