EC has set up 11,729 polling stations for 83,21,207 voters in State
Sunday, 17 March 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Voting for the Lok Sabha elections will be held on April 19 in Uttarakhand. Stating this, the State’s chief electoral officer BVRC Purushottam informed about the schedule for the elections announced by the Election Commission of India on Saturday. The notification for election in the five Lok Sabha constituencies- Tehri, Garhwal, Almora (SC), Nainital- Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar- in the State will be issued on March 20 and with this the process of the filing of the nomination papers will start. The last date of submitting the nomination papers is March 27 and the scrutiny of the nomination papers will be done on March 28 while March 30 is the last date of withdrawal of the nomination papers. The people of the State will cast their votes for selecting their representatives in the Lok Sabha on April 19, the counting of the votes will be done on June 4 and the results will be declared on the same day.
Interacting with the media persons, the CEO said that all the preparations for holding free and fair elections have been completed. He said that the State has 83,21,207 voters ( 43,08,904 male, 40,12,006 female and 297 transgender). He informed that there are 65,177 such voters whose age is 85 years and above. Purushottam further informed that the State has 79,965 Divyang voters and 1,45,220 first time voters. He added that there are 93,357 service voters in the State. The commission has set up 11,729 polling stations in the State which are divided into three categories, P-1, P-2 and P-3 on the basis of their distance. The State has 10,544 polling stations in the P-1 category. The polling parties will depart to these locations one day before the voting. The State has 1,155 polling stations in P-2 and the polling parties will depart for these at least two day before the voting while there are 30 such polling stations (in P-3 category) where the polling parties will move three days before the date of voting.
EC planning to increase voter turnout in U’khand
DEHRADUN: The State’s chief electoral officer BVRC Purushottam informed that efforts are being made to increase the voter turnout in the State. He said that in the last Lok Sabha elections held in 2019, the voter turnout was 61.50 per cent which was slightly less than the 62.15 per cent turnout witnessed in the year 2014. The voter turnout was 49.25 per cent and 53.96 per cent in 2004 and 2009 respectively. Purushottam said that efforts are being undertaken to increase the turnout to 75 per cent in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. He further informed that Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programmes are being held in different parts of the State and in the last one month 34.94 lakh voters have taken a pledge to cast their vote.
Election Commission to deploy 115 CAPF companies in U’khand
DEHRADUN : In order to ensure free and fair elections the Election Commission of India will deploy 115 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in Uttarakhand. In addition the authorities will deploy 122 companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and 42,000 State police personnel in the elections. The additional director general of police (Law and Order) AP Anshuman said that out of 11,729 polling stations, 1,410 have been identified as critical. He said that the process of review of such polling stations is still going on. Anshuman said that the nodal officers for expenditure, VIP movement, postal ballots and welfare have been deployed. He said that training has been given to the police personnel for the elections. The ADG said that 20 companies of CAPF have arrived in the State for area dominance. He said that CCTV cameras will be installed on all the interstate border check posts and drones will be used to monitor the porous borders. He further informed that there are 47,200 licensed weapons in the State and the process of seizure of these weapons will start from Sunday.
ESMS system set in place for seizure management
DEHRADUN :The election commission has set in place the Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) in the State for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. The chief electoral officer BVRC Purushottam said that the system removes the problem of duplicity in the seizures of liquor and cash by different agencies. He said that the ECI had started the ESMS in five States on pilot basis last year in the Assembly elections and has now implemented it in the entire country for Lok Sabha elections. Purushottam said that special monitoring of movement of cash, drugs and liquor is being undertaken. The ECI has identified 15 expenditure sensitive constituencies for the LS elections, he added.
