HYDERABAD: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vikas Raj said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had issued 1.68 lakh postal ballots to facilitation centres, up from 1,00,135 in 2018. This year, 96,526 employees will be using the postal ballot.
Raj stated that the electronic voting machines, cleared by officials and political party representatives, would will be dispatched to polling stations on November 29.
Raj said 2.5 lakh personnel had been deployed on election duties and would be dispatched to various locations on November 28.
He said the first ‘Vote from Home’ facility had concluded, with 26,000 participants, of them 15,000 senior citizens, 9,374 persons with disabilities, and 1,407 essential service staff.
The Election Commission identified 1,200 critical polling stations, implementing preventive measures. EC officials addressed and resolved numerous cases from cVigil, the call centre, and other sources, handling a total of 7,500 complaints. As the election campaign concludes by 5 pm on November 28, the CEO mentioned that the police and District Election Officers (DEOs) have taken steps to deploy forces.
Over 65,000 police forces are set to deploy, supplemented by additional Central forces for election duties. Home guards from neighboring states will also contribute to the efforts.
Box: Postal Ballots details:
Home voting including Essential Services: 26,660
Postal Ballots issued to voters to cast vote in facilitation centres: 1,68,612
Polled up to Nov. 25: 96,526
Postal ballots counted in the 2018 Elections: 1,00,135
EPICs printed in 2023: 54.39 lakh
Box: Contesting candidates:
Total contestants: 2,290 (Male: 2,068, Female: 221, Transgender: 1)
Total Counting Centres: 49 (One in 31 districts + 4 in Rangareddy and 14 in Hyderabad)
Deployment of Forces:
45,000: state police
3,000: Other departments
50 companies: TSSP
375 companies: CAPF (100 reached earlier + 196 reached in last two days, 74 reaching today amd 5 already stationed locally)
Home Guards coming from neighbouring states: 23,500
(Karnataka: 5,000, AP: 5,000, Maharashtra: 5,000, MP: 2,000, Orissa: 2,000, TN-2,000 and Chhattisgarh: 2,500)
Total Teams/Squads : 1,866
Staff deployed: 2,08,000
FIRs on MCC violations: 1,020
FIR on Seizures: Cash: 97, Precious metals: 5, Drugs: 317, Liquor: 10,325, Freebies: 86
