Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 19 : Madhya Pradesh recorded 44.67 voter turnout till 1 pm in the third phase of polling for nine parliamentary seats in the state, according to the data released by the Election Commission of India.
Nine parliamentary seats- Morena, Bhind, Gwalior, Guna, Sagar, Vidisha, Bhopal, Rajgarh and Betul- are undergoing polling in the third phase of LS polls on May 7 from 7 am in the state.
Of these, Rajgarh is leading the voter turnout charts with 52.60 per cent voting followed by Vidisha 50.46 per cent, Guna 49.93 per cent, Betul 48.26 per cent, Sagar 44.32 per cent, Gwalior 41.18 per cent, Bhopal 40.41 per cent, Morena 39.24 per cent and Bhind 37.37 per cent till 1 pm so far in the state.
Earlier, the state recorded 30.21 per cent voting till 11 am and 14.43 percent voting till 9 am in the third phase of LS polls 2024 in the state.
During the second phase of voting on April 26, the state recorded 38.96 per cent voting till 1 pm and the final voter turnout stood at 58.59 per cent in the second phase of polling in the state.
Addressing the press conference, Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anupam Rajan said that the polling for the third phase was started on the scheduled time in the state after the mock poll and the polling was going on peacefully in the state.
"Today, the polling in the third phase of LS polls started at 7 am at all the polling stations of the nine parliamentary seats in the state. The polling is going on peacefully across the state. The voter turnout stood at 30.21 per cent in the first four hours till 11 am in the state. During the previous 2019 general elections, the polling percentage was 27.83 per cent in the third phase till 11am," Rajan said.
During the mock poll, some Balloting Unit (BU), Control Unit (CU) and VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) faced problems and they were replaced. There were a total of 104 BUs, 98 CUs and 164 VVPATs were replaced, the officer said, adding that after the beginning of polling, a total of 14 BUs, 12 CUs, 40 VVPATs were changed which reported issues.
Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh are being conducted in four phases. The first phase of polling was held on April 19 and the second phase was concluded on April 26.
The fourth, which is the last phase of LS polls in the state, will be held on May 13. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
With 29 Lok Sabha constituencies, Madhya Pradesh ranks sixth among all states in terms of its representation in the Lower House. Of these, 10 seats are reserved for SC and ST candidates, while the remaining 19 are unreserved.