LS polls 2019 LIVE: 46.59% polling till 3 pm in Uttarakhand

The first phase of polling of 2019 Lok Sabha elections began today in Uttarakhand. Nearly 10 percent of 78.56 lakh voters cast their votes in the first hour. All arrangements for the election have been completed in advance for the "fair and free" election through EVMs with 137 percent VVPATs (37 percent reserved).

Dehradun: Nearly 10 per cent of 78.56 lakh voters cast their votes in the first hour as voting began on Thursday for five seats from Uttarakhand in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, a poll officer said. Voting on two parliamentary constituencies in the state is being held today.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is virtually locked in a straight battle against arch-rival Congress in all the five seats.

Voting which began at 7 am will continue till 5 pm, said Chief Electoral Officer Saujanya.

LIVE UPDATES:

• 46.59% voters turnout in Uttarakhand till 3:00PM
• 41.27% polling recording in Uttarakhand(all 5 seats) till 1 pm
  

  41.27% polling recording in Uttarakhand(all 5 seats) till 1 pm
• All World Gayatri Pariwar Head Pranav Pandya and Co-head of Shantikunj Shail Didi showed their inked finger after casting vote for Lok Sabha election at a polling station in Haridwar
  

  All World Gayatri Pariwar Head Pranav Pandya and Co-head of Shantikunj Shail Didi
• 23.78% voters turn out in Uttarakhand till 11 am
• 48 EVM machines and 34 VVPATs were changed during voting due to some technical problem
• Voting underway at booth number 4 in Haldwani for the Lok Sabha Elections 2019
  

  Voting underway at booth number 4 in Haldwani
• Trivendra Singh Rawat cast his vote for Tihri Lok Sabha seat in Dehradun
• Former CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank casts his vote at a polling booth in Dehradun

People were seen queuing up outside the polling booths even before the voting exercise started. There are 52 candidates trying their luck at the hustings.

All arrangements have been completed in advance for a "fair and free" election using EVMs with 137 per cent VVPATs (37 per cent reserved), said Saujanya.

"Our forces are on the alert for a peaceful process," said Uttarakhand Director General of Police Anil Raturi speaking about the tight security arrangement made all over the state.

Over 45,000 police and other forces have been deployed, including 16,000 state police personnel, 65 companies of paramilitary forces and 16,000 home guards. There will also be 152 quick response teams (QRTs).

Eighty-five inter-state and 10 international barriers with Nepal have also been set up.

Out of the total 11,229 polling booths, nearly 697 have been declared as vulnerable and 656 as critical. Most of the vulnerable and critical booths are in the plains in the Udhamsingh Nagar, Haridwar and Dehradun districts.

Read: Bharat Decides 2019: Voting begins for Phase 1