SHILLONG, May 28 - Over 90 per cent voters today exercised their franchise for the crucial Ampati bye-polls in Meghalaya, Chief Electoral Officer, FR Kharkongor has informed.
Addressing the media here, Kharkongor said that a report from a few places from the constituency is yet to reach and the polling figure may slightly go up. �Polling was held peacefully in all the 39 polling stations, including the six categorised as sensitive,� Kharkongor said.
He said there has been a very high turnout and a lot of people came to vote, including people with disabilities and senior citizens.
Kharkongor said that there was only one VVPAT machine which malfunctioned, which was promptly changed. On reports of violent clashes between supporters of NPP and Congress in the run up to the polls, Kharkongor said that one company of paramilitary force has been retained.
�The company has been retained to guard the strong room and also ensure that the counting process goes on smoothly on May 31,� the CEO said.
NPP�s Clement Momin, Miani Shira (Congress) and Subhankar Koch (Independent) are the three candidates in the bypoll though the contest is expected to be between NPP and Cong.
Miani, Congress candidate and daughter of former Chief Minister, Mukul Sangma, today filed another complaint before the returning officer against NPP workers allegedly working to influence voters.
