Bhubaneswar, Feb 22 (PTI) The fourth phase of panchayat elections in Odisha were on Tuesday peaceful, barring a few incidents of skirmishes, with around 73 per cent of over 51.31 lakh electors exercising their franchise till 1 pm, the scheduled time for the closure of voting, an SEC official said.

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According to the State Election Commission, around 83 per cent of voters' turnout was recorded in Jajpur's Nagada, a backward area where rural polls could not be held for the last two decades due to connectivity constraints.

Maoist-infested Niyamgiri and Trilochanpur areas also registered over 80 per cent polling, State Election Commissioner AP Padhi said.

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The fourth phase of rural polls was held at 17,089 booths in 1,254 gram panchayats and 163 zilla parishads spread over 64 blocks of 27 districts of Odisha.

"Polling was peaceful but some disruptions in the voting process were reported at four to five places. The commission will decide on whether re-polling in some booths will be required or not. Based on the reports of district collectors, such a decision will be taken, Padhi told reporters here.

The voting began at 7 AM.

Voters' turnout at 78.6 per cent was recorded in the third phase of polling, while the percentage figures were at 78.3 and 77.2 in the previous two rounds respectively.

Voting in the fourth phase was cancelled in two places — for the post of sarpanch in Kendrapara and ward member in Jajpur - due to errors in ballot papers, the SEC official said.

"Polling was suspended at 75 booths for various reasons during the first three phases of panchayat elections in the state," he said.

SEC Secretary R N Sahu said polling at 45 booths, where voting could not be conducted during the first two phases, will be held on February 23.

Similarly, voting will be conducted on February 25 at 30 booths where such exercise could not be carried out in the third round of the elections.

Meanwhile, a delegation of the ruling BJD submitted a memorandum to the SEC during the day and demanded arrest of a senior BJP leader in Bhadrak district in connection with the death of a man in poll-related violence on Monday.

The opposition BJP and the Congress expressed apprehension over security of ballot boxes of the panchayat elections in the strong rooms.

The SEC, however, asked district collectors to strengthen security measures in buildings where strong rooms were set up.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)