As many as 71.48 per cent of the over 1.89 crore voters exercised their franchise during the three-phase Lok Sabha elections for 11 seats in Chhattisgarh.
In the third and last phase of polling Tuesday, 70.73 per cent polling was recorded in seven constituencies, said the state's chief electoral officer Subrat Sahoo Wednesday.
In the first phase on April 11, 66.04 per cent voting was recorded in the naxal-affected Bastar (ST) seat.
The average turn-out in Rajnandgaon, Kanker (ST) and Mahasamund, which went to polls on April 18, was 74.95 per cent, he said.
In the third phase, Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Korba, Surguja (ST), Raigarh (ST) and Janjgir-Champa (SC) seats went to polls.
"Altogether 71.48 per cent voter turnout was recorded in 11 seats. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it was 69.39 per cent," Sahoo said.
The highest polling was witnessed in Raigarh at 77.70 per cent, while Bilaspur recorded the lowest turnout of 64.36 per cent, he said.
Of the total of 23,771 polling stations, less than 10 per cent voting was recorded in 176 booths while more than 80 per cent polling was registered in 6,327 booths.
In 67 polling stations, over 90 per cent voting was recorded, he added.
In Bairagi, Seradand, Palaridand, Kurthi and Udhani polling booths in Bharatpur-Sonhant assembly segment and Girjapur polling booth under Baikunthpur assembly segment, 100 per cent voting was registered, Sahoo said. Both theses assembly constituencies fall in the Korba Lok Sabha seat.
The voter turnout in Bastar (66.04 per cent) was more than that in the urban Raipur seat (65.99 per cent).
Sahoo said that traditionally rural voters are more enthusiastic than urban voters.
In Raipur, the lowest voter turnout of 20.19 per cent was recorded at a booth in the affluent Avanti Vihar area while the highest turnout was recorded in Thanaud village (90.43 per cent).
However, the efforts of the EC to encourage urban voters yielded results in constituencies like Durg, Sahoo said.
EVMs were sealed in the presence of representative of political parties and kept in a strong room in each of the 27 districts, he said.
Three-layered security involving Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel and CCTV cameras has been put in place to guard the strong rooms, he said.
The CEO also informed that since the imposition of Model Code of Conduct, Rs 9,32,37,742 in cash, 7,111 liters of liquor worth Rs 12,87,688 and other materials (freebies) worth Rs 85,01,269 were seized.
The fate of 166 candidates is locked in EVMs now. The main fight is between the ruling Congress and the BJP.
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