Polling officials check details after receiving polling materials in Tiruppalai, Madurai on Thursday. | Photo Credit: R. ASHOK
Polling materials, including Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines, indelible ink and other materials were sent to 1,573 polling stations in Madurai Lok Sabha Constituency on Thursday ahead of polling on April 19 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m..
The materials were sent to the respective polling stations with adequate police protection in the presence of officials. Madurai Parliamentary Constituency has 15,82,271 voters - 7,77,145 men, 8,04,928 women and 198 third gender voters.
There are 10 Assembly constituencies in the district. Six of them - Madurai North, Madurai South, Madurai East, Madurai West, Madurai Central and Melur - come under Madurai Lok Sabha constituency: Tirupparankundram and Tirumangalam come under Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituency, and Sholavandan and Usilampatti under Theni constituency.
In a press meet held at the Collectorate, District Election Officer and Collector M.S. Sangeetha on elaborated on the polling arrangements. She said there were 2,751 polling stations in the 10 Assembly constituencies in the district of which 1,573 were in Madurai Lok Sabha constituency.
As many as 356 polling stations have been identified as sensitive. Additional police personnel and Central Forces have been deployed and Micro Observers will monitor polling in these stations and webcasting will be done. A total of 428 Micro Observers have been engaged.
A total of 13,200 polling officials would be engaged in election duty. Around 5,500 police personnel will be deployed across polling stations. Drinking water, furniture and shamiana and other basic amenities will be made available at the polling stations. For the convenience of the differently abled and elders, wheelchairs with the service of attendants will be available at the polling stations.
A total of 3,303 ballot units and control units and 3,574 VVPATs had been allocated for the polling stations. After the end of voting, as many as 459 zonal parties have been formed to take the EVMs to Madurai Medical College, the counting centre for Madurai Lok Sabha Constituency. Arrangements have been made to store the sealed EVMs in strong rooms.
