PANAJI
The state witnessed 56.82 per cent voter turnout in the Zilla Panchayat polls conducted peacefully across 48 constituencies on Saturday, the first major polling exercise in the state since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The official data compiled by the State Election Commission has made it evident that despite the nine month delay in conducting the elections to the ZP, Covid-19 scare held people back from casting their votes. A considerable drop of almost 10 per cent was experienced in the ZP voting this year as compared with 2015 hinting that pre-poll predictions by political parties about their chances could go haywire once the counting concludes on Monday.
A total of 7.91 lakh voters were eligible to cast their vote this year sealing the electoral fate of around 200 candidates across 48 of the 50 ZP constituencies in the state. Of these, 4,49,888 voters, 2.27 lakh male voters and 2.21 lakh female voters, exercised their franchise at the 1,187 polling stations set up by the SEC across the state. At 5 pm, the voting percentage stood at 58.43 per cent in North Goa and 55 per cent in South Goa.
Altogether, 31 Covid positive voters cast their votes by taking all mandatory precautions and by wearing PPE kits. Among these, 15 were in North Goa and 16 in South Goa ZP constituencies.
In North Goa, Pale ZP constituency recorded the highest voter turnout with 77.39 per cent exercising their franchise while the lowest turnout was recorded in Aldona ZP constituency where the voting percentage stood at 42.64 per cent. Incidentally, Aldona topped the list for the highest number of Covid positive voters casting their votes with six of the 31 total such voters stepping out in Aldona.
In South Goa, Barcem ZP constituency recorded the highest voter turnout with 75.90 per cent voters casting their vote while Raia ZP constituency recorded 37.77 per cent, the lowest in South Goa.
The ZP polls this year saw 43 BJP candidates, 38 Congress candidates, 20 candidates of the Aam Aadmi Party, 17 candidates of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and 79 independent candidates in the fray for 25 constituencies in North Goa and 23 in South Goa. The counting for the elections will be undertaken on Monday from 8 am onwards at 15 notified counting centers including six in North Goa and nine in South Goa.
One unopposed candidate fielded by the BJP has already been declared victorious while a candidate contesting from the Navelim seat in South Goa district passed away prompting the State Election Commission to countermand polling in the constituency.
While the SEC announced that the elections took place across the state in a peaceful manner and were not marred by any untoward incidents, several events prominently dotted the polling timeline.
Verbal spats also occurred at several polling booths over several issues including the failure in implementing Covid safety protocols.
As this was the first election to be held in Goa during the ongoing pandemic, the authorities had announced a slew of strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be put in place at each polling booth. Mandatory use of masks, hand sanitization and PPEs for Covid positive patients who were expected to vote between 4 pm and 5 pm were among the safety measures adopted.
Yet, the failure of the booth staff to implement these SOPs was conspicuous at polling booths in Penha de Franca, Socorro and Reis Magos. It was discovered that thermal guns had not been provided at several polling booths and in some cases, social distancing was not maintained.
Reportedly, some voters raised questions about the absence of the NOTA option on the machine. However, in this regard, the SEC was bound by the Supreme Court judgement of 2013 and the provision in the People's Representation Act which lay down that the 'Right to refrain from voting' is applicable only to elections to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
