61.01% turnout in three Mohali constituencies

Mohali, June 2

A total of 61.01 per cent of voters in the three assembly constituencies of the district falling in Anandpur Sahib and Patiala Parliamentary Constituencies exercised their right to franchise during the General Election on Saturday.

The District Election Officer, Aashika Jain, said the voting process was carried out in a peaceful and hassle-free manner in Kharar, SAS Nagar (Mohali) and Dera Bassi segments. She said 66.08 per cent voting was registered at Dera Bassi, followed by 60.16 per cent at SAS Nagar and 56.8 per cent at Kharar. She added that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines were collected from the polling parties.

The DEO said the local, state and Central Armed Police Force have been deputed to the counting centre at the Government Polytechnic at Khuni Majra, adding that the centre is monitored with round-the-clock CCTV surveillance. She said the counting of votes would take place on June 4 for Kharar and SAS Nagar (Mohali), during which adequate staff would be deputed into the halls for counting of votes.

DEO Jain said the counting centre for the Dera Bassi, which is a part of the Patiala Parliamentary Constituency, has been set up at Punjabi University in Patiala.

Counting of votes at two halls in Khuni Majra

After taking a review meeting, the DEO said a total of two counting halls would be set up at this centre. She said each counting hall would have 14 tables and each table would have a four-member team comprising a counting supervisor, a counting assistant, counting staff from MTS/group D employees, and a micro-observer.

The DEO said the counting staff would be allocated the number of tables on the day of counting during final randomization, which would take place at 5 am, adding that the counting would start at 8 am.