Chennai, Dec 19 (IANS) Eighty percent voter turnout was recorded in the by-polls for two assembly seats in Tamil Nadu Saturday, officials said. The polling was peaceful.
Speaking to reporters here, state chief electoral officer Naresh Gupta said: “Polling was by and large peaceful with 82 percent votes cast in Vandavasi and around 78 percent in Tiruchendur.”

The two seats witnessed a three-cornered contest between the DMK, the AIADMK and the DMDK.

As the commission decided to match the images of the voters captured on web cameras installed in the polling booths with those stored in its servers, the polling process took some extra time and ended only at 5 p.m.

Gupta said the decision helped to prevent bogus voting.

The monitoring of the poll percentage via SMS from the polling officials every hour till 3 p.m. and every half an hour after that was also effective.

The fate of 39 contestants will be decided Dec 23 when counting takes place.

There was some tension when AIADMK cadres asked DMK men from outside Vandavasi to go out of the town as per the Election Commission’s direction.

The AIADMK had boycotted the last by-elections in August and party chief Jayalalithaa asked the Election Commission to declare the DMK candidates as winners without holding the polls.

Though charges of bribing the voters with cash, liquor, dhotis, saris and even mobile phone recharge coupons flew thick and fast, Gupta said it was difficult to verify the allegations.