Himachal Assembly Polls 2022: This time, Himachal Pradesh voters broke all previous voting records in Assembly elections. Shyam Saran Negi, a Kinnaur resident and the country’s first voter, appealed to Kinnaur voters two days before his death to vote enthusiastically after voting at home with ballot paper. Following that, people voted to set a new record.

On Saturday, a record 75.6 percent of votes were cast. This includes one percent of service voters. More service voters, however, have yet to be added. Following this, the voting figure could reach 76 percent. Previously, the highest voter turnout was 75.57 percent in the 2017 assembly elections.

Manish Garg, the state Chief Electoral Officer, released the data on Sunday, following the arrival of remote polling teams. The highest turnout this time was 85.25 percent in Solan’s Doon Assembly constituency and 62.53 percent in Shimla city. The EVM voting percentage was 74.6. Some ballots have arrived by mail.

With this, the total polling to date has increased to 75.6 percent. It may rise by another 1% until all postal ballots are received. This year, the state election department focused more on the 11 assembly constituencies with low voter turnout. SVEEP and voter education campaigns have begun. Competitions and rallies were organised to raise voter awareness about voting.

Voting rates increased by up to 7% in nine Assembly constituencies

A comparison of Dharampur, Jaisinghpur, Shimla, Baijnath, Bhoranj, Solan, Kasumpti, Sarkaghat, Jaswan Paragpur, Hamirpur, and Barsar revealed that voter turnout has increased by up to 7% in 9 of 11 Assembly constituencies. Dharampur’s voter turnout was 63.6 percent in 2017 and it rose to 70.54 percent in 2022.

In Jaisinghpur, it rose from 63.79 in 2017 to 65.31 in 2022. In Bhoranj, it rose from 65.04 to 68.55 this year; in Solan, it rose from 66.45 to 66.84; in Barsar, it rose from 69.06 to 71.17. In Hamirpur, it rose from 68.52 to 71.28, and in Jaswan-Paragpur, it rose from 68.84 to 73.67 percent. Sarkaghat has risen from 67.23 to 68.06 percent, and Kasumpti has risen from 66.86 to 68.24 percent.

Polling in Shimla Urban, Baijnath decreased since last time

In Shimla Urban, voter turnout fell from 63.93 in 2017 to 62.53 in 2022, while in Baijnath, it was 64.92 in 2017 and 63.46 in 2022.

During his visit to Himachal Pradesh, Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar had asked and directed the state to concentrate on Assembly constituencies with low turnout.