The district is all set for the Assembly elections on Tuesday, with 26,000 polling officials deployed in 3,858 polling stations.
Of the total polling stations, 2,298 are main stations and 1,560 auxiliary. In the 2016 elections, the district had 2,027 polling stations. More number of stations have been arranged for this time in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
While voters can cast their votes from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., COVID-19 patients can exercise their franchise from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m by strictly maintaining COVID protocol.
According to official data, the district has 26,12,032 voters in the 13 Assembly constituencies. This includes 13,60,101 women, 12,51,885 men and 46 transgenders. There are 4,176 pravasi (expatriate) voters and 1,746 service voters in the district, which has 253 sensitive booths, 28 high-security booths and 29 critical booths. Additional security has been arranged for in these booths.
Drinking water facility, power supply and toilets have been arranged for in all booths. There are five model polling booths in each of the 13 constituencies.
Social distancing has to be strictly maintained and there will be separate queues for men and women. Special consideration will be given for the elderly and differently abled.
VVPAT (Voter-verified Paper Audit Trail) machines will be used in all booths. In all, 4,562 ballot units, 4,562 control units and 5,212 VVPATs will be in use.
COVID-19 protocol officers have been deployed in all booths. If the body temperature of a voter reads above 37 degree Celsius, it will be checked thrice. In such a case, he/she will be allowed to vote at that time only if any of the temperature checks shows less than 37 degree Celsius. Otherwise, the voter has to wait for the scheduled time allotted for COVID patients.
