THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : As part of making the 25,000-plus polling booths across the state voter-friendly, Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kaul has issued a detailed set of guidelines in the run up to the Lok Sabha election.
A creche, with the service of an ayah or woman volunteer, for children accompanying voters is a new feature that the poll panel has introduced. This will be set up in polling locations with more than four polling booths.
Presiding officers have been directed to ensure that elderly voters and Persons with Disabilities (PwD) are able to vote without standing in queue and are provided all assistance required. All polling stations should have a ramp with 1:12 slope ratio for the elderly and PwD voters. In polling stations without permanent ramps, temporary ramps should be set up. The guidelines also stipulate making wheelchairs available in polling stations. Sufficient number of chairs and benches should be set up at polling stations for elderly, PwD and pregnant voters.
Drinking water and facilities to ensure shade for voters in queue should be ensured in addition to water dispensers and eco-friendly glasses. Separate toilets for men and women should be set up. If a sufficient number of toilets are not available, temporary arrangements should be made.
A voter assistance booth would be set up ideally at the main entrance of the polling station. Officials have been directed to make a list of polling stations where long queues are likely and the service of volunteers should be utilised to regulate the queue. Measures to reduce queue such as issuing tokens can be explored.
The District Election Officers have been instructed to dispose of the waste materials left after polling, in adherence to green protocol. Since most of the polling stations are located in schools, care should be taken not to disfigure the drawings and maps on the walls.
What numbers say
Polling booths: 25,177
Auxiliary polling booths: 181
Total polling booths: 25,358
Polling locations: 13,233