LARGE TURN OUT FOR VOTING IN PANJIM AND RESULT LINK

PANJIM: Residents of the state capital came out in large numbers all through Sunday to elect the 30 members to the Corporation of the City of Panjim.  When voting ended in the evening 74.69% of the eligible voters had pressed the blue button on the electronic voting machine (EVM), leading the two men hoping to take control of the civic body to claim victory. In the 2006 CCP poll, 62% had cast their vote.

Taleigao MLA Atanasio 'Babush' Monserrate claimed the high turnout was in his favour. "We will win 27 seats. With this huge voting percentage, I am very confident about it," Monserrate said. Monserrate has fielded candidates in all wards under the banner of Panjim City Corporation Development Front.

Panjim MLA Manohar Parrikar took a similar line. "The high voter turnout is because people are aware and they want to give us a verdict," Parrikar said. Parrikar's panel is called Panjim First and has candidates in 29 wards. A third panel was fielded by the NCP and there are a large number of independents in the fray.

The elections threw up quite a bit of interest during the campaign, and this was borne out by the turnout. A total of 23,969 voters, out of an electorate of 32,090, cast their votes. Women outnumbered men with 12,285 female voters as against 11,684 males turning up at polling stations. Interestingly, women electors in the city outnumber men with 16,302 women as against 15,788 men.

For a change there were no serpentine queues of voters at polling stations despite the large turnout. "This proves that our method of using the poll monitoring system was a success," north Goa collector and election returning officer Mihir Vardhan told reporters after polling concluded.

"At the most, voters took one or two minutes to complete the polling process. This included getting their photograph clicked and registering their thumb impression. These measures also took care of bogus voting and impersonation. I voted in ward 22 and I took a minute to walk in, cast my vote and walk out," Vardhan said.

"For the first time one could track the polls online. Updates were available every two hours on the website: www.northgoa.nic.in. The poll monitoring system could be used in future for municipal and panchayat elections," Vardhan added.

To view results click this link:  http://collectornorth.goa.gov.in/appln/UIL/winnerList_as.aspx