The Chennai District Election Office has launched a campaign ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to increase voter turnout in the city, Chennai Corporation Commissioner J. Radhakrishnan said.
Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday March 20, 2024, Mr. Radhakrishnan said 4.1 lakh residents in North Chennai have taken a pledge of voting in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission has convened a meeting of senior officials of all cities such as Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Delhi to increase turnout during the polls, he said.
Systematic voters’ education programmes (SVEEP) have also been launched to increase voter turnout in urban areas based on instructions from the Election Commission.
The turnout from Chennai has generally been low. In the Chennai South Parliamentary constituency, 58% turnout was registered during the previous elections; Chennai Central registered 58.72%, while Chennai North had a turnout of 64.1%. In R.K. Nagar in North Chennai, the turnout was high, while other segments had registered a low turnout of around 60%. “Out of 100 voters, 40 do not vote,“ said Mr. Radhakrishnan.
The Chennai District Election Office has also identified 19,796 employees for election duty and 87% of them have already begun training, he said. As many as 1,500 were absent . Supplementary training for employees has also started.
Training for 3,500 additional employees will also be conducted. Micro-observers for 44 polling locations with 10 booths each, will be appointed soon.
