Chandigarh, January 31
The Election Commission today revised the voter turnout in yesterday’s Punjab Assembly election by 2% to 78.67% even as it ordered a repoll in booth number 76 of Amritsar (East) constituency.

The EC had till last evening put the estimated polling at 76.63%. Even today, Chief Election Officer Kusumjit Sidhu said the figures could change. “This is the average poll percentage and could be revised. The final polling percentage would be calculated on the basis of the total number of voters who exercised their franchise,” she said.

The repoll has been ordered for February 2 in a booth in the Amritsar (East) constituency. The fresh poll will be held between 7 am and 3 pm, the Election Commission said.

The decision for repoll was taken after the Electronic Voting Machine at booth number 76 developed a snag during mock testing. Sidhu said the EVM was repaired but by afternoon it stopped recording votes and was replaced with a new EVM.

“We do not want to take any chances and have ordered a repoll,” she said. There are 974 registered voters at the booth.

Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Sidhu’s wife Dr Navjot Kaur is the BJP candidate from Amritsar (East) constituency. She is pitted against Sunil Datti of the Congress. Congress rebel Simarpreet Bhatia is also in fray as an Independent.

Even though the polling percentage has risen, Amritsar (West) remains the constituency with the lowest voter turnout of 57.59%. Till yesterday, this figure stood at 56%. Guruharsahai has reported the highest turnout of 89.88% followed by Gidderbaha with 88.73%.

The Election Commission has instructed various stationary surveillance teams and flying squads of the Income Tax and Excise Departments constituted for the elections to be disbanded, except in Amritsar (East) constituency. Liquor will be prohibited within the polling area of polling booth number 76 from 5 pm today till polling ends on February 2.