Page 18 - Voting

BSF trying to scare voters in bordering areas: CM Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused the BSF of scaring voters in the bordering areas of the state at the behest of the saffron camp and asked the police administration to keep a close watch on their activities. "I have information that in the run up to the panchayat election, some BSF officials are visiting the border areas, threatening voters and forcing them not to vote. I will ask people not to be scared of their tactics and fearlessly participate in the elections," she told an election rally in the bordering district. While referring to the alleged shooting of villagers by the BSF last year, whom the border force claimed as smugglers, Banerjee said, "Police will lodge FIRs in such cases and the law will take its own course." "They don't have the right to shoot and kill anyone. No one is above the law; it seems killing people in Cooch Behar district has become a norm," she said. She asserted "law and order is a state subject" and the Centre has no role i

LIVE news updates: WHO says mpox no longer public health emergency

Catch live updates from across the globe here

Final phase of voting begins for local body polls in Uttar Pradesh

Voting for the final phase of urban local body polls in Uttar Pradesh covering 38 districts, including Meerut, Ghaziabad, Shahjahanpur, Bareilly, Aligarh, Kanpur, and Ayodhya began on Thursday morning. Voting will be held from 7 am to 6 pm on Thursday. The polls are considered significant as political parties are trying to showcase their strength before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Campaigning for the final phase ended on Tuesday evening with BJP and Samajwadi Party leaders criss-crossing the poll-bound areas. Shahjahanpur will vote to elect its first mayor. Meerut and Aligarh had BSP mayors in 2017 while the BJP ruled the rest. According to the State Election Commission (SEC), over 1.92 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes to elect their representatives in the second phase. The first phase of voting was held on May 4. The counting of votes for both the phases will take place on May 13. As many as 39,146 candidates are in the fray in the second round for 6,929 posts, which .

Demographic change: Karnataka has 1.4 mn fewer voters aged below 39

However, there has been a huge increase in older age cohorts compared with 2018

Significant rise in number of EVM's ballot units, control units since 2014

The total number of control units and ballot units has increased significantly since 2014. Control Units and Ballot units are constituents of electronic voting machines (EVM)

Elections LIVE: 82% voter turnout recorded in Nagaland, 75% in Meghalaya

Catch all the latest developments from across the world. Stay tuned

Tamil Nadu: Voting for Erode Assembly seat bypolls underway smoothly

The election began at 7 am. The officials are also monitoring the situation across all polling booths

Meghalaya Assembly elections: First five early voters receive mementos

Polling is underway at 3,419 polling stations across 59 Assembly constituencies of the state. The voting will continue till 4 pm

PM Modi urges Meghalaya, Nagaland voters to vote in record numbers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged voters in Meghalaya and Nagaland to cast their votes in record numbers. Assembly polls are being held in the two northeast states on Monday. Modi tweeted, "Urging the people of Meghalaya and Nagaland, particularly the young and first time voters, to vote in record numbers today." The counting of votes in the two states besides Tripura is scheduled on March 2.

Nagaland Assembly elections today, a look at key constituencies, candidates

The voting for Nagaland Assembly elections for 59 seats is to be held today in a single phase, deciding the fate of 183 candidates

Nagaland Assembly elections: A look at key issues dominating state

Earlier, the Eastern Nagaland Peoples' Organisation (ENPO) had called for the boycott of the polls until its demands are met by the Centre

Maharashtra bypolls: Voting underway in Chinchwad amid tight security

In Kasba Peth, the voting is taking place in a total of 270 polling booths, where the police have made nine sensitive polling centres

Tripura registers 14% voter turnout till 9 am, polling peaceful so far: CEC

Tripura recorded a voter turnout of 14 per cent till 9 am on Thursday, with the polling process largely being peaceful in the first two hours, said Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Gitte Kirankumar Dinakarrao. The exercise began at 7 am and will continue till 4 pm. The CEO also noted that "enthusiasm was palpable among the voters", especially women. "This indicates polls are being held in a free and fair manner," he said. Among the early voters was Chief Minister Manik Saha, who is contesting the polls from Town Bardowali constituency. He exuded confidence that the BJP will secure absolute majority in the Assembly elections. "I am hundred per cent confident that the BJP will secure absolute majority in the elections. The party may get more seats than it did the last time, he told reporters on his way to a polling booth at Maharani Tulsibati Girls' School here. Altogether 28.13 lakh voters are scheduled to exercise their franchise during the day in 3,337 polling stations of the ...

India sees six-fold jump in voters since 1951; total electorate over 940 mn

India has witnessed a nearly six-fold increase in the total number of voters since 1951 to over 94.50 crore this year, but almost one-third of them stayed away from exercising their franchise in the last Lok Sabha polls. This has prompted the Election Commission to walk the extra mile to bring them to the polling booths. In 1951, when the voter lists for the first general elections were prepared, India had 17.32 crore registered electors and 45.67 per cent had turned up to exercise their franchise in the newly-born Republic. The number of registered electors witnessed a gradual increase over the years, and so did their participation in the subsequent elections. In the 1957 general elections, the number of registered electors was 19.37 crore and 47.74 per cent cast their ballots to send their representatives to the Lok Sabha. Amid talks of taking the voter turnout to 75 per cent, the Election Commission has flagged the issue of the 30 crore voters who did not turn up at the polling

Murmu urges people to consider voting as contribution to nation building

As the Election Commission aims to ensure 75 per cent voter turnout in future elections, President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday urged people to consider voting as their contribution to nation building. She said people must vote with the spirit of "nation paramount". Addressing AN event to mark the 13th National Voters' Day, she said it is a great achievement of India's election process and democracy that the active participation of women in the democratic process is continuously increasing. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the number of women voters was slightly higher than that of men. She noted that for the first time in the history of Indian Parliament, the total number of women MPs in both the Houses together have reached the 115 mark. From gram panchayats to Parliament, women are contributing significantly. Their participation and numbers should increase further, she said. The president said that social revolution has been possible in the country during the past seven decades

Machines for migrants

Inclusion of migrant voters is important

EC starts discussion with parties over remote EVMs for migrant workers

After remarks by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, the poll watchdog will demonstrate to the representatives of political parties the remote electronic voting machine (RVM)

Elon Musk says Twitter will restrict voting on policy to blue members

A day earlier, Musk pledged to submit all future policy decisions to a vote and offered Twitter users a choice on leadership, asking them if he should step down; 57.5% of the vote were in favor

Counting of votes for 182 seats of Gujarat Assembly elections tomorrow

Counting of votes will be held on Thursday for the Gujarat Assembly elections which were held in two phases on December 1 and 5 across 33 districts of the BJP-ruled state. The counting of votes will start at 8 am at 37 counting centres covering the 182 Assembly seats, an official said. While the contest in Gujarat has traditionally been between the BJP and Congress, it was three-cornered this time around with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) entering the poll arena. Exit polls have predicted a big majority for the BJP in Gujarat and if these projections are any indication, the saffron party is all set to retain power in the state for the seventh consecutive term. The ruling party is expected to win in the range of 117-151 seats, while the Congress was predicted to bag between 16 to 51 seats. The Aam Aadmi Party was projected to bag anything between two and 13 seats. The majority mark in Gujarat is 92. Polling in Gujarat happened in two phases on December 1 and 5. Voter turnout stood at 66.31

Gujarat Assembly elections 2022: Phase-2 polling in 93 seats on Monday

Voting will be held on Monday in 93 Assembly seats across 14 central and northern districts of Gujarat during the second phase of the state polls. In the 2017 Assembly polls, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 51 of these seats, Congress 39, while three seats went to independent candidates. In central Gujarat, the BJP had bagged 37 seats, outnumbering the Congress which got 22. But in north Gujarat, the Congress had won 17 seats while the saffron party got 14. The high-voltage campaigning by different parties for the second phase of polls ended on Saturday evening. The first phase of voting for 89 seats in Saurashtra, Kutch and south Gujarat regions was held on December 1, when an average voter turnout of 63.31 per cent was recorded. The Gujarat Assembly has a total of 182 seats. In the second phase, voting will be held in the remaining 93 seats, for which 833 candidates are in the fray from 61 political parties, including the BJP, Congress and the new poll entrant Aam A