The coastal belt in the district witnessed brisk polling throughout the day on Tuesday. However, in contrast to the previous elections, serpentine queues were missing, with the district administration increasing the number of polling booths in view of the COVID-19 scenario.
Several polling stations, prominently St. Mary’s Higher Secondary School in Vettucaud, St. Antony’s Higher Secondary School in Valiyathura and Leo XIII Higher Secondary School in Pulluvila, had nearly 10 booths within their premises to prevent crowding. Auxiliary booths were arranged in most places to ensure that only a maximum of 1,000 voters were allotted the same booth.
Many polling booths in coastal areas saw the electorate, predominantly the fishing community, turn in large numbers by around 10 a.m. Women and youngsters were among the early voters in the region. Adhering to a general trend in coastal areas, the voting picked up pace around 4 p.m. following a lull during the afternoon.
Tight security
Heavy security was put in place in most polling stations that were designated ‘critical booths’, with Central forces being deployed to augment surveillance and prevent crowding within and outside the stations.
A large posse of 28 Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel led the security measures at the Pallithura Higher Secondary School in Kazhakuttam. According to sub-inspector Lenju, who oversaw the measures, the security scheme was drawn up in view of the polling station’s long history of booth capturing and violence. Similar arrangements could be seen in several other polling venues along the coastal belt.
