15 lakh voters to decide fate of Kottayam
Some 2,672 electronic voting machines have been distributed to the polling stations
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-11-05 06:24 GMT
Kottayam: The district administration has made elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct of the local body elections on Thursday. There are a total of 15, 03,582 eligible voters in the district and 2,331 polling centres have been set up under over 10,000 polling officials.
As many as 5, 512 candidates are contesting in 22 divisions of the district panchayat, 11 block panchayats, 37 grama panchayats and six municipalities. Ninety-five candidates are contesting in 22 divisions of the district panchayat, 480 in the block panchayats, 4,222 in the grama panchayats and 715 in the municipality.
Some 2,672 electronic voting machines have been distributed to the polling stations. District Collector U.V. Jose told Deccan Chronicle that a mock polling will begin at 5.30 a.m. on Thursday to make officials familiar with the machines. The polling will begin by 7 a.m. and continue till 5 p.m. Voters who are in the queue before 5 p.m. will be given tokens to cast their votes.
Those who come after 5 p.m. will not be allowed to vote. Special patrolling will be conducted in sensitive booths in Erattupetta and Kumarakom regions. Webcasting and videography of the polling will be held in some booths in the district, Mr Jose added. Defective machines will be replaced immediately. The Election Commission has deployed one general observer and four observers for monitoring the expenditures of the candidates in the district.
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