Ramakanta Biswas

About 79 per cent of voters have exercised their adult franchise in the fourth phase of the three-tier Panchayat elections in Odisha, the State Election Commission (SEC) said on Wednesday.  

Releasing the final polling data of the fourth phase, the SEC informed that Subarnapur district registered highest voting percentage where 86.51 per cent voters exercised their franchise. It is followed by Bargarh with voter turnout of 84.87%, Nabarangpur (83.3%), Rayagada (82.35%), Gajapati (82.17%), Koraput (82.8%) and Bolangir (82.2%). 

Other places which registered an impressive voting percentage of over 80 per cent are Cuttack (80.64%), Dhenkanal (80.59), Kalahandi (80.53%) and Nuapada (80.34).   

On the other hand, Ganjam district saw a lowest voter turnout of 65.2 per cent in the fourth phase of the rural polls held on Tuesday.

The fifth and final round of the Panchayat elections will be conducted tomorrow (February 24) and all preparations for the same have reached the final stage. Voting will be held for 131 zilla parishad (ZP) zones and 975 gram panchayats coming under them. 

More than 41.88 lakh voters are expected to exercise their democratic right to elect representatives in the fifth phase. As many as 13,514 booths have been set up for the polling. 

Polling teams have reached their respective booths. Elaborate arrangements have been made by the district and police administration to ensure incident-free elections.

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