More than 78 per cent of voters exercised their franchise by 4 00 p.m. on Wednesday in the Puducherry Assembly polls, officials here said. “At 4 00 p.M. 78.86 per cent votes were cast with Yanam region touching a figure of 92 per cent,” an election official told IANS.
Interestingly, women outnumbered men in exercising their democratic right. While 79.99 per cent of women voters cast their votes, the number of men who voted was lower at 77.69 per cent. Over 810,000 voters — about 390,500 men, 419,800 women and five transgenders — are expected to decide the fate of 187 candidates in fray for 30 Puducherry Assembly seats. In Mahe district, 29 NRIs also voted. According to the official, polling percentage in the 2006 Assembly elections was 85.5 per cent.
Voters began assembling at the 867 polling booths from 7.45 a.m. Onwards to cast their votes early to escape the summer heat of teh southern plateau. Voting began at 8 00 a.m. Polling was proceeding peacefully across the union territory. All the polling booths were monitored live through web camera, the official said.