The Baleswar Sadar and Tirtol Assembly constituencies together recorded an average 70.45% voting in by-polls by 6 pm on Tuesday.
The percentage of voting is likely to increase further as voters were in queues at many polling booths to exercise franchise, said said Odisha Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sushil Kumar Lohani.
Tirtol witnessed 69.9% voting while Baleswar Sadar recorded 71% voter turnout by 6 pm, said Lohani.He said voting had begun at 7 am and continued beyond 6 pm in view of the presence of voters in booths.Thermal screening was done on each voter before entry to polling booths. Those voters found having high temperature were given a token for voting between 5pm and 6 pm, he said. Voters used masks and maintained social distancing at the booths. They were given a glove for signing ballot documents and pressing voting machines.
Before leaving booths, they returned gloves.Many Covid positive patients gave votes through postal ballots. There were wheelchair systems for physically handicapped voters at each booth, he said.
Responding to a question, Lohani said EVMs, which developed technical snags, were either repaired or replaced immediately.“We have not received any report of violence of any kind at any booth. Voting has been conducted in peaceful manner,” claimed Lohani.