COIMBATORE: Political parties have approached the district administration, seeking to reduce the number of polling booths in Coimbatore district. They pointed out that the number of polling booths is high as compared to the voters in 10 constituencies in the district.
The district had a total of 32,25,198 voters before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), after which 6,50,590 voters have been excluded from the electoral list. In the general election for the Lok Sabha in 2024, the district had 3,117 polling booths. Before the commencement of SIR, the district administration had proposed to increase the polling booths to 3,563 booths by adding 446 booths, to facilitate easy access for voters when they go for polling during the election.
However, political parties have advocated for reducing the polling booths, citing the present electoral list.
V Ramamoorthy, chief election agent for CPM in Coimbatore said, "As per the Election Commission of India rule, one polling booth is to be set up for 1,200 voters. With 3,117 polling booths, the district has an average of 800 voters per booth. Meanwhile, it has been planned to increase by 446 booths for the district. Our opinion is that it is not required. Several polling booths have less than 300 voters. For instance, a polling booth in Subramaniampalayam in Kavundampalayam constituency has only 289 voters. Another polling booth has less than 150 voters in the constituency. It would be better to set up the booths based on the voter count, near their area."
C Thangavel, chief election agent for CPI, said, "For every polling booth, political parties have to depute their agents. Similarly, the government needs to send election duty staff to polling booths. Over 6.50 lakh voters have been deleted from the list. For instance, residents of Kumarasamycolony in Thadagam Road in Coimbatore North constituency were evicted from the place and flats were allocated at other parts in the city. Meanwhile, the polling booth for the voters still exists with meagre votes. Our demand is that the polling booths are rearranged in a scientific manner, instead of merely increasing the number of booths.
Responding to the political parties’ demand, Collector Pavankumar G Giriyappanvar said, "Political parties have made their demands. After SIR, electoral works is under way to finalise the voters. New voters will be added during the process. Based on the final electoral list, the number of polling booths will be decided after a consultation with the ECI."