Over 82% turnout recorded in Mizoram’s Dampa assembly bypoll

More than 82 per cent turnout was recorded in the by-election to Dampa assembly seat in north-western Mizoram’s Mamit district after the deadline for polling ended peacefully at 4 pm on Tuesday, a senior election official said.  Mizoram Chief Electoral Officer Dr. Lalrozama said that the voting percentage could increase as polling continued after 4 pm in two polling stations for voters, who entered the polling centres before the deadline. He said that there were about 200 voters at Marpara North and 150 others at Silsury-I polling stations, who were still queuing up to cast their votes.  According to the Election Commission’s data, 82.32 per cent turnout was recorded till 5 pm.

 Rulpuihlim polling station, which has 327 voters, recorded the highest turnout at 89.30 per cent, followed by Chhippui with 196 voters at 89.29 per cent, according to the state election department. Lalrozama said polling, which began at 7 am across 41 polling stations, including 3 critical polling stations, was peaceful as no law and order issue was reported during the 9-hour long voting.He said that there was no report of malfunctioning of EVMs and technical glitches with VVPAT machines.

A total of 20,888 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the bypoll, according to the CEO. Counting of votes will be held on November 14. Dampa is one of the three assembly segments in Mamit, the lone aspirational district in the state, which shares an international border with Bangladesh and inter-state boundary with Tripura.