Bhubaneswar: The by-election to Pipili Assembly constituency was conducted peacefully as there was no report of law and order problem from anywhere.
Chief Electoral office sources here said 68.40 per cent voters had exercised their franchise by 5PM.
Odisha Chief Electoral Officer S K Lohani said the turnout of the voters out was likely to go up after the election was over at 6PM.
The voter turnout was low in the first two hours of the polling but later picked up. The voter turnout was 7.8 per cent by 9 AM but it went up to 24.76 per cent at 11AM, 45.32 Per cent at 1300hrs and 59.72 per cent at 1500hrs.
The CEO said mock polling was held in the 348 booths before voting began at 7 AM. In certain booths polling was delayed due to malfunctioning of the EVMs but it was promptly settled and the voting continued.
UNI
