With open campaigning for the 18th Lok Sabha elections concluding on Wednesday, the district administration has made elaborate arrangements to ensure a smooth conduct of the elections.
According to District Collector V. Vigneshwari, who is the district returning officer, arrangements have been completed across all nine Assembly segments in the district, which form part of the Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Mavelikara Parliament constituencies.
Voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the 1,564 polling booths in the district, with 1,198 polling stations in the Kottayam constituency alone. The Election Commission has assigned general observers, expenditure observers, and police observers to oversee the election proceedings, which will be conducted in adherence with the green protocol,” the official said.
The distribution of polling materials for voting will commence at 8 a.m. on Thursday at the reception and distribution centres in the Assembly constituencies of the district. A total of 1,198 voting -VVPAT machines will be utilised, with 1,468 ballot units, 1,448 control units, and 1,535 VVPAT machines all set and ready for use.
A total of 7,524 officers have been assigned for polling duties across the district. They include 1,881 presiding officers, first polling officers, and 3,762 polling officers, as well as 159 sectoral officers. For the monitoring at critical polling stations, 24 micro-observers have also been appointed. Out of the 1,564 polling booths in the district, webcasting facilities have been installed at 1,173 booths. This will enable real-time monitoring of activities in the polling booths, from the commencement of mock polling on Friday morning until the completion of the voting process and the boxing of voting machines, through the control room at the collectorate via webcasting.
Security arrangements
On polling day, security will be tightly controlled with the deployment of 3,219 security personnel, including members of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF). Led by District Police Chief K. Karthick, the security team will consist of 12 deputy superintendents of police, 50 inspectors, 301 sub-inspectors or additional sub-inspectors and 462 civil police officers. The group will also consist of 1,527 special police officers, 636 armed police, 124 CAPF personnel, and 107 officials from various departments such as forest, excise, motor vehicles, vigilance etc.
Election Commission has identified 11 critical polling booths in five locations within the district. Central forces will be placed at these critical booths that come under the Ponkunnam, Vaikom, and Chingavanam police station limits.
In preparation for the election, a liquor ban will be enforced 48 hours prior to the polling day, with a dry day declared from Wednesday 6 p.m. until Friday 6 p.m.
