With Kerala going to polls on April 26 (Friday), Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kaul and his team are using the final hours before D-Day for two important tasks — giving finishing touches to the arrangements and making sure that voters queue up in strength at the polling booths.
Speaking to The Hindu on Wednesday, Mr. Kaul said his team was engaged in a “last push” to ensure maximum voter participation in the Lok Sabha election. The emphasis of this ‘push’ is on young voters in the 18-30 age bracket and the urban voters, two segments whose attendance, election officials feel, could improve.
“We are targeting the two segments using social media messaging platforms. We have already started it, and it will be intensified in these final hours. We are also targeting expatriate Keralites in West Asia for the very reason that they are very active on social media and are constantly interacting with people at home. The idea is to create a buzz, to tell the people here that voting is happening, so please go to the booths on Friday,” he said.
A 2001 batch IAS officer who took over as CEO-Kerala in July 2021, Mr. Kaul said he would be happy if the polling percentage touched 80 on Friday. “We can’t set a target, of course. It is the people’s will. We can only persuade them,” he said. (Kerala had recorded a turnout of 77.67% in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and 74.06% in the 2021 Assembly elections.)
With regard to the arrangements, 62 companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) are in position across the State, Mr. Kaul said.
“All the electronic voting machines (EVM) have been commissioned. Their distribution to polling officials will begin on Thursday morning. “They are good to go for polling. You need to press the button and cast the vote. 80% of the webcams have been installed in booths selected for webcasting. Their installation will be completed by mid-day on Thursday,” he said. Webcasting is planned in 22,956 booths.
As of Wednesday morning, 92% of the eligible voters in the 85-plus and Persons with Disabilities (PwD) categories had cast their votes using the ‘home voting’ facility.
With open campaigning coming to a close on Wednesday evening, Election officials will tighten their vigil during the silence period to prevent untoward incidents, Mr. Kaul said. “Flying squads and static surveillance teams (SST) will be extra vigilant in this regard,” he said.
