HYDERABAD: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that the process of commissioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) has been completed with regard to 15 Assembly Constituencies in Hyderabad District. The EVMs will be dispatched to the concerned polling stations on November 29, 2023. Polling will be held from 7 am to 5 pm on November 30, 2023. A total of 9,318 Ballot Units, 5,132 Control Units, and 5,737 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) will be used for the conduct of polls in Hyderabad District.
Home voting for senior citizens above 80 years of age, Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), and essential services personnel in Hyderabad has been completed. Of the 838 persons who applied under Form 12D, about 733 have cast their votes.
Over 20,000 staff have been deployed for the elections, including Presiding Officers (4,947), APOs (4,947), Polling Officers (9,894), and Micro Observers (810).
The DEO has said that webcasting will be done in all 4,119 polling stations at 1,677 locations in Hyderabad District. For centralized monitoring of the proceedings at all the polling stations, live webcasting has been arranged with a link for screens at the offices of the respective Returning Officers, District Election Officer, and Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad.
As per the final electoral rolls, the total electors in the Hyderabad district are 45,36,852. Of them, 23,22,623 are male, 22,13,902 are female, and 327 are third gender.
The number of voters in the 18-19 age group is 77,522, the 20-29 years is 7,24,364, the 30-59 years is 30,68,513, and the 60-plus years is 6,66,453.
The DEO has conducted a meeting with representatives from Resident Welfare Associations and NGOs working with marginalized communities, including youth, women, PwDs, sex workers, senior citizens, and third genders.
The Commissioner has created awareness about the uses of the voter helpline, ECI website, Toll-Free No. 1950, c-VIGIL App, Saksham App, Accessible Components, and facilities provided to PwDs and senior citizens on polling day.
The Commissioner has also answered the queries of the attendees and distributed Voter Guide booklets (Hard and soft copy formats) and asked them to disseminate the same information in their WhatsApp groups and among voters for wide publicity before the poll day to increase voter turnout in Hyderabad District.
Videos of district sports persons, film icons, and local influencers are being circulated on social media platforms and displayed on screens at the MGBS Bus Stand and Secunderabad Railway Station on the theme “Voter Fore Sure” with date of poll messages. These videos feature Malavath Purna (Indian Mountaineer), Pullala Gopichand (Badminton Player), Esha Singh (Air Pistol Shooter), Nikhat Zareen (Boxer), Nandini (Athlete), Nagpuri Ramesh (Athlete), Kriti Shetty (Actress), Amala Akkineni (Actress), Bhaskar (Actor), Jhansi (Actor and Anchor), Tanikella Bharani (Actor), and Suma Kanakala (Actor and Anchor).