All arrangements have been completed for the smooth conduct of re-polling in booth number 118 in Pallilankara of Kalamassery Assembly constituency on Wednesday.
Polling will be held at the booth, set up in Government Polytechnic College, Kalamassery, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
District Collector and district election officer M.G. Rajamanickam has declared holiday for all government and educational organisations falling within the limits of this booth. Liquor also remains banned within five-kilometre radius of the booth.
Mr. Rajamanickam has also directed heads of all public and private sector establishments within the limits of the booth to facilitate casting of votes by all eligible voters. He requested the electorate to exercise their franchise without fail. Four sets of electronic voting machines (EVM) have been set up for re-polling. Names and symbols of all contesting candidates have been arranged.
Information about re-polling had been conveyed to all households concerned. Booth-level officers had also distributed slips.
Voters who were yet to receive slips could secure it from help desks set up near the booth on the polling day.
Polling at the booth, set up in the Kalamassery general polytechnic on April 10, had to be stopped for nearly an hour after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers protested alleged non-functioning of the AAP symbol in the voting machine. Following this, AAP candidate Anita Pratap came to the polling booth to request the officials to stop voting. Voting was stopped and the machine replaced, while additional time was allotted to make up for the lost time.
The AAP also filed a complaint in this regard with the Election Commission.
About 73.40 per cent voters had cast their votes on that day with 860 out of the 1,172 voters exercising their democratic rights. The polling per cent in the booth was 2.58 per cent less than the voter turnout of 75.95 registered in the constituency.
The Election Commission has deployed Ponnuraj, a Karnataka cadre IAS officer, to supervise re-polling proceedings. He reviewed the arrangements at the polling booth on Tuesday. A micro observer has also been deployed in the booth.
Meanwhile, the UDF chief election agent in Ernakulam constituency flayed Ms. Prathap for leaving on a foreign trip after demanding re-poll in the booth.
