Bhubaneswar, Nov 14 (PTI) The counting of votes for the Nuapada assembly bypoll in Odisha began at 8 am on Friday under a three-tier security arrangement, an official said.

District Election Officer (DEO)-cum-Nuapada Collector Madhusudan Dash said the counting of postal ballots was underway.

The counting of votes in EVMs will start from 8.30 am at 14 tables.

There will be 26 rounds of vote counting, he said.

The bypoll was necessitated by the demise of BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia on September 8.

The Nuapada by-election has achieved an outstanding voter turnout of 83.45 per cent, which was the highest among the eight bypolls held in India on November 11.

As many as 14 candidates are in the fray. PTI AAM BDC

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