Over 28 lakh voters, 4,164 polling booths in Capital district

Mock polling to start at 5.30am; voting to begin at 7am and end at 7pm, number of voters restricted to 1,000 in each booth

A polling officer waiting to collect the EVMs for joining the election duty at the collection centre of St Mary’s School at Pattom on Monday | Vincent Pulickal

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With a total of 28,19,710 voters eligible to exercise their franchise in the assembly elections on Tuesday, 4,164 polling booths have been set up in the district. The voting will begin at 7am and end at 7pm. The capital district has 14 assembly constituencies.Mock polling will start at 5.30am ahead of the polls. It will be conducted in the presence of the booth agents. After casting 50 votes in a voting machine and counting the same, the machine will be cleared and sealed. After that, the voting will begin.

In the 2016 assembly elections, the district had 2,736 polling booths. Considering the pandemic situation, the number of voters has been restricted to 1,000 in a single booth. As such, 1,428 new auxiliary polling booths have been opened. These auxiliary booths have been set up near the regular polling booths.

A group of government officials travelling on a bus from St Mary’s Higher Secondary School, Pattom with polling materials to Kattakada on the eve of Assembly polls on Tuesday | Vincent Pulickal

locate your polling booth

Voters can locate their polling booths in three ways. One can find out the polling booth by sending a message from a mobile phone in the format ECIPS to 1950. Alternatively, one can use the Voter Helpline app or the website voterportal.eci.gov.in. Voters should carry any one of the identification documents approved by the Election Commission.

webcasting in 2,073 booths 

Webcasting has been introduced in 2,073 polling booths in the district. Live feed from all the booths will be monitored at all times in the control room set up at the Collectorate.

Immediate action in case of machine failure

All arrangements have been made for immediate rectification and replacement of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in case of any damage to it. For this, 291 sectoral officers have been appointed. Two additional EVMs have been provided to a Sectoral Officer for use in such contingencies. Additional batteries have also been given.vote only after getting their thumb imprint and signature. These voters will be allowed to leave the booth only after the ink on their finger has dried.

STRICT ACTION AGAINST IMPERSONATION, DOUBLE VOTING: COLLECTOR
District Collector Navjot Khosa has said that strict action will be initiated against those indulging in malpractices like impersonation and double voting. The details of those on the ASD (Absent-Shifted-Dead/Duplicate) list have been shared with the polling officials at all booths to ensure that a voter casts only one vote. “Legal action will be initiated against those voters indulging in such malpractices,” the collector said. Those on this list will be photographed when they arrive to vote.