JOIN USPolling for Belgaum Lok Sabha constituency by-election begins
Polling for the by-election for Belgaum Lok Sabha Constituency commenced on Saturday.
Polling began on a slow note with election staff delaying the installation of EVMs and VVPTs at many polling stations.
There are 10 candidates in the fray. A total of 18.13 lakh voters will exercise their franchise.
BJP candidate for Belgaum Lok Sabha Constituency Mangala Angadi cast her vote at a polling station in the premises of Government Higher Kannada Primary School at Visvesvaraya Nagar here and was among the early voters.
Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer Dr K Harish Kumar visited some of the polling stations in the city and reviewed the implementation of Covid-19 safety guidelines.
Polling staff were seen asking the voters to use face masks, sanitise their hands before casting vote, and maintain social distancing while standing in the queue.
Owing to summer, many of the voters preferred to cast their vote early to avoid standing in a queue under the hot sun. With voter slips not being distributed to voters by election authorities, many voters rushed to their nearby polling stations to search for their serial numbers in the voter rolls.
Updated voter rolls not being made available to representatives of candidates led to voters themselves checking their names online based on Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers, voters list enrollment, and name transfer acknowledgement numbers available with them.