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New Delhi, Nov 6 (IANS) As voting gets underway for the first phase of Bihar assembly elections on Thursday, the Patna district administration has issued a clarification amid claims on social media that some voters are being denied entry to polling stations for not carrying voter slips.
In an official statement on Twitter, the district administration Patna said, “The issue has been resolved. Voting is underway. Voter slip is not mandatory. Voters can use any one of the 12 optional photo identity documents other than EPIC (Voter Identity Card) to cast their vote.”
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), acceptable documents include Aadhaar card, MNREGA job card, passport, PAN card, driving license, smart card issued by RGI under NPR, pension document with photo and health insurance or service ID card.
Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar today received a surprise call from Mosotho Moepya, Chairman of the Electoral Commission of South Africa, who extended his good wishes for the conduct of the Bihar elections – one of the largest democratic exercises in the world with about 75 million eligible voters.
Moepya said the South African MP is planning to visit India soon to study the country’s electoral management system, which is often cited as one of the most transparent and efficient globally.
The thing to note here is that according to the Chief Electoral Officer, an average of 27.65 percent voting was recorded till 11 am on Thursday in the 18 districts where voting is being held for the first phase of Bihar Assembly elections.
While Begusarai (30.37 per cent), Lakhisarai (30.32 per cent), Saharsa (29.68 per cent), and Muzaffarpur (29.66 per cent) saw comparatively higher participation, several other districts also reported moderate to encouraging voting figures till mid-morning.
Patna district witnessed the lowest voting percentage so far at 23.71 percent. In Madhepura, 28.46 per cent of registered voters had cast their votes till 11 am, while in Darbhanga, 26.07 per cent had voted.
ECI has 320 model booths, 926 women-managed stations and 107 managed by persons with disabilities.
Tight security arrangements have been made to ensure smooth voting. More than 15 battalions of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in 18 districts, with special attention given to sensitive and Naxal-affected areas, where polling will end an hour earlier at 5 pm. Mock polling exercises were conducted early in the morning to verify the systems before polling begins.
–IANS
SAS/DPB