A total of 35.58 lakh young men and women in the State have enrolled in the electoral rolls to exercise their franchise for the first time in the May 5 elections to the State Legislative Assembly.
A total of 4,36,36,966 (4.36 crore) citizens are eligible to exercise their franchise in the State and about 18 lakh voters are added during the last few months. A total of 35,58,862 citizens in the age group of 18 to 22 years would cast their votes for the first time in the coming elections, Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha told presspersons here on Thursday.
In Bangalore alone, 5.34 lakh voters would cast their franchise for the first time on May 5.
There are 2,26,84,060 male and 2,13,82,916 female voters in the Sate. The total number of voters in Bangalore is 70,37,885, the CEO said.
Polling booths
The Election Commission would set up 52,034 polling booths across the State. A total of 10,103 and 14,209 polling booths have been declared hyper-sensitive and sensitive respectively, the CEO said.
He said 65,000 EVMs would be used for ensuring peaceful polling. A total of 2.53 lakh personnel would be roped in for polling work while 48,182 state police personnel would be deployed across the State. Nearly 9,900 drivers and conductors have been asked to report for work.
The CEO said polling officials, including drivers; conductors and the police (total 3,11,142) would be given postal ballot papers to cast their votes.
To check malpractices, nearly 2,000 flying squads have been constituted and each squad is manned by 4 to 5 persons, including two police personnel.
Authorities have seized cash of Rs 10 lakh at airport in Belgaum and one person was arrested. Illegal cash was seized in Bellary (Rs. 16.5 lakh in two different places), Koppal (Rs 10 lakh), Kumta (Rs 8.35 lakh), Davangere (10.14 lakh), and 43 solar streetlights worth Rs. 12 lakh in Kanakapura, the CEO said.
