Poll preparation in final phase in Kerala

KOCHI: With two days left for polling, district administration and Election Commission officials are in the final phase of making arrangements for the transparent and smooth conduct of the election process. Voting machines have been readied and shifted to strong rooms. As many as 2,300 voting machines will be used in the district along with the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines to be used in Ernakulam and Thrikkakara constituencies.

The total number of polling booths in the district is 2,054 and booths having more than 1,750 voters are being divided by sanctioning an auxiliary polling station. In all, 27 polling booths were found to have more than 1,750 voters. Muvattupuzha has 11 auxiliary booths with more than 1,750 voters, which is the highest in Ernakulam.

With 1,925 voters, the polling booth at North Ponjassery LP School, Vengola in Perumbavoor has the highest number of voters in Ernakulam. According to district poll officials, distribution of the voters' slip, which carries the photo of voter, has been completed. Booth Level Officers distributed more than 80 per cent of the slips.

The maximum number of slips was distributed in Perumbavoor constituency. All the voters are requested to carry the slip, as the slips cannot be distributed at the counters set near the polling booths unlike previous years. Photocopies of the slip will not be permitted.

As per the final list, the total number of voters in 14 constituencies in Ernakulam is 5, 36, 798 and majority of the voters are in the age group of 40 to 49. Piravom has the highest number of voters while Ernakulam has the least.

Training for the presiding officers and first, second and third polling officers has been completed. According to official sources, a total of 11352 persons have been deployed for election-related duties. There will be 2,838 presiding officers and equal number of first polling officers, second polling officers and third polling officers for the election process.