In a first in the history of Andhra Pradesh, the Election Commission of India (ECI) will webcast the voting in nearly 65% of the polling stations in the State which will go to polls on May 13.
“Hundred per cent webcasting will be ensured in 14 of the 175 Assembly constituencies, apart from the deployment of additional Central armed forces this time,” Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena to the media at the Secretariat on May 2 (Thursday), adding that the decisions were taken to prevent any mismanagement at the booths on the polling day.
Of the total 46,389 polling stations set up in the State, 12,438 have been identified as “critical” and webcasting has been proposed at 29,897 polling stations, 64.45% of the total, he said.
He explained that the Special Observer for the State suggested 100% webcasting of voting at all polling stations in 14 Assembly constituencies of Macherla, Gurazala, Pedakurapadu and Vinukonda in Palnadu district; Ongole in Prakasam district; Allagadda in Nandyal district; Tirupati and Chandragiri in Tirupati district, Punganur and Palamaneru in Chittoor district; Pileru, Rayachoti and Thamballapalle in Annamayya district.
Mr. Meena said that the State Observer suggested deployment of additional Central armed forces at all polling stations in these constituencies.
There are 224 auxiliary polling stations in the State, he said, explaining that auxiliary polling station is set up where the count of voters exceeds 1,500. As per the final electoral roll, 4,14,01,887 voters including 2,03,39,851 male, 2,10,58,615 female and 3,421 third-gender voters will exercise their franchise in the State. There is a net increase of 5,94,631 electors from the final electoral roll published before the announcement of the election shedule on March 16.
15,000 additional ballot units
The demand for ballot units increased with the rise in the number of candidates in various Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies. Each ballot unit can accommodate 16 names including the None Of The Above (NOTA) option. This means if a constituency has 15 candidates in the fray, then one ballot unit is sufficient (15 candidates and NOTA). However, the constituencies with candidate count between 16 and 31 need two ballot unites. “The number of ballot units increases based on the calculation,” he said.
Three ballot units are being used in Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency as 33 candidates are contesting from there. In total, 11 Lok Sabha constituencies including Visakhapatnam need two ballot units each. Tirupati and Mangalagiri Assembly constituencies need three ballot units each as the candidate count stands 46 and 40 there respectively. In total, 22 Assembly constituencies in the State need more than one ballot unit each.
“Keeping these requirements in view, 15,000 additional ballot units have been brought from Bengaluru and supplied to six districts,” said Mr. Meena.
MCC violations
The CEO said 9,337 FIRs had been filed related to seizures of various contraband and 864 FIRs lodged during the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in the State. “Two deaths and 156 injuries have been reported due to violence since the implementation of the MCC. The police have bound over 72,416 persons while 541 persons have been identified as troublemakers. Cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals, freebies and other items worth ₹203 crore have been seized so far,” he added.
