G B Nagar/Ghaziabad: Both Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad districts saw fairly enthusiastic polling in the first phase of 2019 lok sabha elections, held on Thursday, with voters thronging to polling booths since early morning while the long queues of voters were the sight at mostly all the polling stations. Reports said that Gautam Buddh Nagar witnessed a slight increase in the voter turnout this year as compared to previous lok sabha election.
As per the data accessed by Millennium Post, average voter's turn out recorded from Gautam Buddh Nagar parliamentary constituency comprising of five assemblies including Noida, Dadri, Jewar, Sikandrabad and Khurja was recorded 62.7 per cent against 60.39 per cent in 2014. The highest voter turnout this time was observed from Jewar area which was locked at 68.4 per cent while Noida witnessed the lowest among all the five assemblies with 53.6 per cent.
In Ghaziabad, the total voter turnout recorded was 57.60 per cent which is lowest among the the eight districts underwent polling in the first phase of 2019 lok sabha elections.
The polling began at 7 am and a brisk voting was recorded during the initial hours but it went down during the afternoon. However, it again gained momentum during the evening with large number of people queuing up at polling booths.
The old and first timers were the most enthusiastic while those who had recently got their names added to voter list as they shifted to their homes in several residential societies of Noida and Greater Noida also didn't score low on enthusiasm.
People were seen posting selfies on their social media accounts while the selfie corners set up at polling booths also gained attention and remain occupied throughout the day.
Meanwhile, complaints of EVM malfunctions came across both Lok Sabha constituencies while many complained of discrepancies in the voter list. In some of the cases the same ESIC number being found on multiple voter ID cards, even the name of entire families missing from the voter list also restricted the rights of voting to many voters and they had to return home without getting their finger inked.
However, the senior officials of district administration and police departments left no stone unturned to ensure peaceful voting while a vigilant checking and survey of all the polling booths was conducted by the officials in both the districts. In Gautam Buddh Nagar, drones were used to keep a close watch on the activities at all the polling stations.
Gautam Buddh Nagar police had also booked as man for allegedly posting his pictures on social media purportedly showing the election candidate he was voting for, in violation of the poll guidelines, a senior police official said.
The officer added that the man identified as Yug Shishodia, a resident of salarpur area in Dadri, posted a picture on his Facebook profile along with an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) inside a booth.
"Taking cognisance of the matter, district administration ordered registration of a
case against him for violating the secrecy of the voting process during election," an official
statement from administration said.