Election Commission (EC) Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed has claimed that around 50 per cent votes were cast in the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) by-election which ended this afternoon. "We primarily estimate that turnout of voters in the election was 50 per cent," Helal Uddin said this while addressing a post-poll press conference at the Nirbachan Bhaban in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar of Dhaka.