Puducherry Records 84.08% Voting, Lesser Than 2011

Union Territory of Puducherry recorded 84.08% voting in the assembly elections, which was 2.11% less than the turnout in 2011.

Out of the 9,41,398 voters, a total of 7,91,511 exercised their franchise in the polling held to the 30-member assembly on Monday, Puducherry Chief Electoral Officer V Candavelou said.

The 2011 Assembly polls registered 86.19% polling, he said adding a survey would be conducted shortly to identify the reason for the decline.

Women voters constituted 53.52% of total voters who exercised their franchise while men voters accounted for 46.48% of the votes polled in the elections, hotly contested by ruling AINRC, Congress-DMK combine, AIADMK, People's Welfare Alliance and BJP.

Yanam, an enclave of Puducherry in Andhra Pradesh with one constituency, recorded the highest polling percentage of 92.67. Two booths in Yanam recorded cent per cent polling. He said out of 35,812 first time voters, only 24,923 voters exercised their franchise on Monday.

As many as 11,236 of the total 15,636 voters with physical disability exercised their franchise and student volunteers helped them reach the booths and to return homes.

Giving details of region wise polling, the CEO said Puducherry with 23 seats recorded 84.6%, Karaikal (five) recorded 80.98%, Mahe and Yanam with one seat each clocked a polling percentage of 77.16% and 92.67%.