Gujarat: Over 35% voter turnout was recorded till Saturday noon during polling on 89 seats of Saurashtra and south Gujarat regions in the first phase of the Assembly polls.

As per the latest data released by the Election Commission, 30.31% voters exercised their franchise between 8 am and 12 pm. The voting will end at 5 pm.

The highest turnout of 38.07% was recorded in the tribal-dominated district of Tapi, while Narmada, another tribal-dominated district in south Gujarat, recorded the lowest turnout of 25.67%.

Chief Electoral Officer for Gujarat B B Swain said that though voting would end at 5 pm, those standing in a queue outside polling booths before the process ends would be given a chance to cast their votes.

Though there were reports of technical glitches in EVMs in Surat and some other centres, the polling process resumed after the machines were replaced, officials said.

Speaking about it, Swain said, “We have received complaints of faulty EVMs from some places and all such machines have been replaced with the spare ones kept at the polling stations.”

As many as 977 candidates are contesting in the first phase.

Prominent candidates include Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who is contesting from Rajkot (West), Congress’ Shaktisinh Gohil (Mandvi) and Paresh Dhanani (Amreli).