The State election authority, the Chief Electoral Officer, has proposed to set up 222 auxiliary polling stations in addition to the 32,574 which have already been finalised for the Legislative Assembly elections slated on December 7.
The decision on setting up auxiliary polling stations has been arrived at following the significant rise in the number of voters. The electoral rolls had seen an increase of over 4 lakh voters since the publication of the final rolls on October 12 and the number is likely to rise further by the time the second supplementary roll is published on November 19.
As per proposals finalised by election officials, Medchal-Malkajgiri district will have maximum of 65 auxiliary polling stations followed by Hyderabad (40), Nizamabad (31), Warangal Urban (19) and Ranga Reddy (17) while the number is much lesser in the other districts. The decision on setting up of auxiliary polling stations was taken in line with the State election authority’s decision to limit number of voters per polling station to 1,400 in urban areas and 1,200 in rural areas.
Enrolment rush
Though election officials left cushion of 100 electors in each polling station during their rationalisation, the rush for enrolment in some areas was significant prompting officials concerned to contemplate auxiliary polling stations so that voters are not put to inconvenience in accessing them.
Change in location
Election officials have also proposed change in location in respect of 525 polling stations due to logistical and other reasons. Of the polling stations proposed for change in location, 94 are in Mahbubnagar, Medchal-Malkajgiri (87), Hyderabad (57) and Nalgonda (48).
Even as efforts have been intensified to ensure voter convenience in exercising franchise, the election authority has resolved to ensure electronic surveillance in over 32,700 polling stations so that proceedings on election day are recorded.
Webcasting
E-surveillance had been contemplated in anticipation of difficulties that could be encountered in ensuring webcasting of the proceedings in all the polling stations. Senior officials said webcasting would require sufficient trained manpower that has fluency in operating computers/laptops.