Large turnout in Goa assembly poll: EC

Goa Polls: People waiting in queue to cast their votes on Saturday, 4th Feb, 2017. (Image: ANI)

NEW DELHI: Goa and Punjab today witnessed peaceful assembly elections with the former clocking a record 83 per cent voter turnout and the latter 70 per cent which the Election Commission said was set to increase when the final figures come in. While Goa's voter turnout is the biggest ever, Punjab's polling percentage is lower as compared to the 2012 assembly polls and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. In Goa, the final voter turnout recorded in the 2012 assembly polls was 81.8 per cent. It was 70.5 per cent in 2007. In Punjab, it was 78.06 per cent in 2012 assembly polls and 70.89 per cent in the Lok Sabha elections of 2014. Responding to questions on failure of EVMs in Punjab, Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena said out of 22,167 machines deployed, only 47 malfunctioned and were replaced. He said the failure rate was 0.2 per cent which was well within the accepted figures of 1 to 3 per cent. Out of the nearly 66,000 voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines, 187 malfunctioned, Saxena said adding that the failure rate was 2.8 per cent. While the elections went off peacefully in the two states, a clash between supporters of two parties was reported from Lalu Guman village in Taran Taran around 3.15 pm in which one person was shot at.