Palakkad to choose Shafi’s substitute today

736 government officials to manage 184 polling booths as 1.94 lakh voters set to cast their ballot

Nearly 1.94 lakh voters are expected to reach the polling stations in Palakkad on Wednesday as the constituency goes to polls to elect a member to replace Shafi Parambil in the Assembly. The byelection in Palakkad was necessitated following Mr. Parambil’s election to the Lok Sabha from Vadakara.

Polling will begin at 7 a.m. and continue till 6 p.m. As many as 184 polling stations have been arranged in the constituency spread across Palakkad municipality and the panchayats of Mathur, Kannadi and Pirayiri. There are 194,706 voters in Palakkad, 100,290 of them women. As many as 2,306 voters are above 80 years of age, 780 differently abled, and four transgenders. Election officials said that 2,445 were first-time voters and 229 expatriate voters.

The distribution of election materials, including the electronic voting machines, was completed and polling booths were set up on Tuesday. After the polling, the voting machines will be brought back to Government Victoria College. Counting will take place there on Saturday.

As many as 736 poll officials were posted to manage the 184 polling booths. Facilities like ramp, toilets and drinking water have been set up in all booths, said District Collector S. Chithra. There will be one all-women polling station and nine model polling stations.

“We will be ensuring webcast of the polling from all booths,” said Dr. Chithra.

As many as seven polling stations have been identified as critical booths and 58 as sensitive booths. Additional security will be provided by the personnel of the Central Armed Police Force and the State police in such booths.

Dr. Chithra said that 220 ballot units and control units each, and 239 voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) units were arranged. They included 20% ballot and control units and 30 per cent VVPAT units in addition.

The district administration declared a holiday for government offices and educational institutions in Palakkad Assembly constituency on Wednesday.

There are 10 candidates in the fray, including the key contestants such as Rahul Mamkootathil of the United Democratic Front, P. Sarin of the Left Democratic Front, and C. Krishnakumar of the BJP.

Two engineers of Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) will stand by to address any technical issues to electronic voting machines. It will be a dry day for Palakkad on Wednesday and Saturday.

Apart from the Election Commission’s voter ID, voters can use any of the following documents for identification: Aadhaar card, PAN card, Unique Disability ID card, service ID card, bank or post office pass book with photo, health insurance smart card given by the Labour Ministry, driving licence, passport, NPR-RGI smart card, pension documents, official ID card of MP or MLA, and MGNREGA job card.

Published - November 19, 2024 08:45 pm IST