23-Year-Old Delivers Baby At Karnataka Polling Station

In a "rare incident", a 23-year-old woman delivered a baby at a polling station in Karnataka's Ballari on Wednesday, the Election Commission said.

The woman had arrived at the polling station in Kurlagindi village of Ballari to exercise her right to franchise in the assembly elections, the poll panel said.

Women officials and female voters helped in the delivery, it said.

Karnataka, which went to polls on Wednesday, witnessed a voter turnout of 65.69 per cent till 5 pm.

According to the latest voter turnout for the polls to the 224-member Assembly, Ramanagara recorded the highest turnout of 78.22 per cent, while the lowest polling was from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) South limits (parts of Bengaluru city) at 48.63 per cent, election officials said.

The state is mainly witnessing a three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (Secular).

For the first time in Karnataka, home voting facility was provided for octogenarian and voters with benchmark disability. Over 80,000 senior citizens who are 80 years and above, 19,279 persons with disability and 15,328 essential service personnel in the state had registered for home voting.

Of these, a total of 94,931 senior citizens and PwDs cast their vote from home, the poll panel said.

Home voting facility was introduced by the EC post the Covid pandemic for those 80 years and above and those suffering rom coronavirus. The facility of home voting has been used by voters in various states. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)