New Delhi, May 7 (IANS): The voter turnout in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday, covering 93 constituencies in 11 states/UTs, was approximately 61.45 per cent as of 8 p.m., with the highest voting reported from Assam (4 seats) at 75.26 per cent, and the lowest from Maharashtra (11 seats) at 54.77 per cent., the Election Commission said.

Goa (2 seats) recorded 74.27 per cent voting, followed by West Bengal (4 seats) 73.93 per cent, Karnataka (14 seats) 67.76 per cent, Chhatisgarh (7 seats) 66.99 per cent, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2 seats) 65.23 per cent, Madhya Pradesh (9 seats) 63.09 per cent, Gujarat (25 seats) 56.76 per cent, UP (10 seats) 57.34 per cent, and Bihar (5 seats) 56.55 per cent, the poll panel said.

Polling began at 7 a.m. and officially closed at 6 p.m., with many braving the heat to exercise their right to franchise. Those in the queue were allowed to cast their votes even after 6 p.m.

With the conclusion of Phase 3, polling in half of the Lok Sabha seats (283) is over now, covering 20 states/UTs.

The election process finished in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu on Tuesday.

"The voter turnout figures which are approximate as of 8 p.m. will continue to be further updated on the VTR App on a continuous basis as various polling parties formally close the poll and hand over Form 17 C to the polling agents of candidates at each of the polling stations," the EC said in a statement.

A further update will be posted at 11.30 p.m., it said.

Of the 1,331 candidates in the fray, notable contenders included Union Home Minister Amit Shah contesting from Gujrat's Gandhinagar, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan from the state's Vidisha, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia from Guna (Madhya Pradesh) (all BJP), Congress heavyweight and former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh from Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh, Samajwadi Party's Dimple Yadav from Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri and Aditya Yadav (Budaun), former BJP Karnataka Chief Ministers Jagadish Shettar (Belgaum), Basavaraj Bommai (Haveri), Congress' Geeta Shivarajkumar (Shimoga), industrialist Pallavi Dempo, contesting from South Goa on a BJP ticket, and NCP-SP's Supriya Sule who faced her sister-in-law and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar in the family borough Baramati, among others.