This story is from December 5, 2019

Karnataka bypolls: Will voters do Bengaluru proud?

Political parties and the Election Commission on Wednesday fretted about voter turnout in the bypolls, and they were particularly concerned about Bengaluru, which has a history of low participation.
Karnataka bypolls: Will voters do Bengaluru proud?
Representative image
BENGALURU: Political parties and the Election Commission on Wednesday fretted about voter turnout in the bypolls, and they were particularly concerned about Bengaluru, which has a history of low participation.
Polling will be held in four constituencies in the city on Thursday. The voter turnout here has traditionally fallen short of the national average in both parliamentary and assembly elections.
“But we are expecting a better turnout than the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2018 assembly polls. This is because it’s a crucial election for candidates and parties,” said chief electoral officer Sanjiv Kumar.
The EC undertook the activity of Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation, or SVEEP, in all the 15 assembly segments where the bypolls are scheduled, and it hopes efforts will pay off. Bengaluru Urban district has over one-sixth of the state’s 5.1 crore voters.
In the past three Lok Sabha and assembly elections, only about half of the voters in the city exercised their franchise. The turnout in other parts of the state was almost 66%. In the 2013 assembly polls, the city’s figure improved to touch 58.2%. It slipped to 54.7% in the 2018 assembly contest as against the state’s overall figure of 72%.
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