On 19th April 2024, the Polling at the 573 Polling Stations of Sikkim for the 32 Assembly Constituencies of Sikkim Legislative Assembly and 01 Parliamentary Constituency of Lok Sabha was held smoothly and peacefully without any major issues.
While the mock poll procedure started at 5.30 am in all the Polling Stations, the actual poll started at 7.00 am in most of the Polling Stations in the State. Many enthusiastic voters, especially first-time voters, had come out in large numbers to participate in the democratic process and exercise their franchise.
Though the voting process was slightly slow in the initial phase in some of the Polling Stations, later it gathered speed and the voting went on even after 5 pm in some of the Polling Stations.
It was ensured that every eligible voter who had come to the Polling Station by 5 pm was allowed to vote following the due procedure. The Total Voter Turnout in Sikkim stands at 79.90 per cent.
This number is likely to go up by another 4 per cent approximately by including the Postal Ballots.
After the close of the Poll, the Polling Teams brought the polled EVMs with proper security to the District Collection Centre and handed over the EVMs and Election papers to the respective Returning Officers.
The polled EVMs and Election Papers were later kept in the Strong Rooms and sealed in the presence of the Election Observers and the Representatives of Candidates.
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The Strong Rooms where the EVMs are kept are guarded by the Central Armed Police Force. In addition, 24x7 CCTV coverage has been arranged for continuous monitoring of the Strong Room locations.
Further, the representatives of the Candidates have been allowed to stay outside the perimeter of the Strong room area to keep a close watch on the security arrangement of the Strong Rooms.
They can also monitor the CCTV footage from these locations. All the Strong Rooms are under the complete custody of the Central Armed Police Force.
The Scrutiny of the election papers was carried out today (20.4.2024) by the Returning Officers and General Observers deputed by the Election Commission of India in the presence of the Representatives of the Candidates.
At the end of the scrutiny, the Returning Officers and Observers were satisfied with the Poll process in all the Polling Stations and no Repoll was recommended for any of the Polling Stations in Sikkim.
The Counting of the Votes for the Sikkim Legislative Assembly will be taken up on 2nd June 2024 and for the Lok Sabha on 4th June 2024.