Karnataka elections

Karnataka registered a voter turnout of 63% in Sunday’s assembly elections, a percentage that is likely to go up to 69 when the districts update their figures on Monday.
Barring stray incidents of violence in Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts, polling was largely peaceful, election authorities said.
“The 63% polling was up to 5 pm. A district-wise break-up is likely to be available later. By Monday afternoon, we will get the updated figures,” Karnataka’s chief electoral officer (CEO) Anil Kumar Jha told reporters.
Observers attribute the improvement in voting percentage to aggressive campaigns by NGOs, civil society and election authorities, coupled with an extra hour to of voting. In the 2008 assembly elections, the polling percentage across the state was 64.68. Bangalore city registered a low of 42.47% till 5 pm (45% in 2008). Chitradurga district topped with 76.34%, Jha said.
Counting of votes will be taken up on May 8. A by election to the Periyapatna seat in Mysore district, caused by the BJP candidate’s death, will be held on May 28.

Polling in all districts was at its peak during the first two hours and around 6 pm, the closing time.
Jha said no incident necessitating repolling was reported on Sunday. The Election Commission will rely on the reports returning officers will submit on Monday. On voters’ names being deleted, the CEO said this was done before the revision of the voters’ list. Voters should have checked for their names early.
Two polling officials, one in Honnavar and another in Madhugiri, died following cardiac arrest. While the CEO’s office did not have information on Form 49-O (elector deciding not to vote after entering the booth) being used, three villages in Belgaum district boycotted polling in protest against neglect by political parties.
In Phalguni, Mudigere taluk, Naveed Nasir, a milk vendor, was trampled by a wild elephant when he was on his way to cast his vote. Kolar town witnessed tension when some youths linked to a councillor landed at a polling station brandishing swords. Police said they would be booked under the Goonda Act.
In all, 52,034 polling booths were set up across the 223 assembly segments; 10,103 of them were declared hyper-sensitive and 14,209 sensitive.
Bangalore’s 28 assembly segments had 70 lakh electors. Among the eligible voters, 5,34,548 were first timers.
About 253,000 officials from state and central governments and state-run organizations were on poll duty, with 48,182 police personnel deployed outside booths and about 1,00,000 additional personnel manning booths to maintain law and order.
Chief minister Jagadish Shettar, Union ministers M Mallikarjun Kharge and Veerappa Moily, Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and G Parameshwara, state BJP president Prahlad Joshi and KJP president BS Yeddyurappa were among the early voters.

Tabulation has pushed up the voter turnout in Bangalore city in the Karnataka assembly elections on Sunday to 58.27%. Initial estimates on Sunday had put the voting at 42%, which was later in the night revised to 52.83%.
Also, Karnataka has broken a 35-year record with the total poll percentage surpassing 71. Of the total voting, males have registered 72.25 and females 70.28. Total percentage in 2008 assembly polls was 64.78. But it’s the IT capital that has stumped pollsters with its high percentage. In 2008 assembly polls, Bangalore city had registered nearly 47.15%, in Lok Sabha polls held in 2009, it slumped to 44%.
Interestingly, Bangalore is one among three districts where females have voted more than males. The break-up includes males 67.21%, females 67.58%. Other two districts in the category are Bidar (male – 66.12%, female – 66.78%) and Udupi (male -75.44%, female – 76.08%).
Extensive campaign by the Election Commission, civil societies, individuals and media is said to be the reason for the high percentage of polling in the state and Bangalore. In the 2008 assembly elections, there were 67,40,000 voters in Bangalore’s 28 constituencies. Of them, 31,76,055 voted, while the remaining 35,64,000 did not turn up.
“The voter turnout has increased by more than 11.12 percentage points. But the increase in the turnout as a percentage of the 2008 turnout is 29.19. This acknowledges the fact that there is an increase in the total number of actual voters newly added to the electoral rolls, notwithstanding the large scale deletions in the exercise conducted by the Election Commission of India. This is also reflective of an increase in the overall participation of electors in deciding the fate of 28 future representatives of assembly constituencies from Bangalore,” a BBMP release said.
Prior to the elections, 13 lakh names of the voters had been deleted from the voters’ list as they were found to be ineligible due to various reasons including want of address proof. Over seven lakh names were added to the list prior to the May 5 elections.
The highest percentage increase in the voter turnout in the city was registered in Mahadevapura at 54.93%. In 2008, 1,46,414 of the 2,75,355 voters cast their vote. On May 5, 2,26,846 of the 3,68,411 voters turned up to exercise their franchise, an increase of 80,432 voters.
The least percentage of increase in polling was seen in Malleswaram where it was a meagre 4.69%.