The voter slips for 65% of the electorate in the district have been distributed and the same will be made available to all the political parties and candidates by Monday evening, Collector K. Bhaskar said here on Sunday.

As many as 34 candidates are in the fray for Lok Sabha seats and 176 nominees are contesting from various Assembly segments in the district and an estimated 37.78 lakh voters will exercise their franchise on April 11.

In a first, braille ballot papers have been introduced for visually impaired voters.

By Sunday evening, 3.38 lakh electoral photo identity cards have also been distributed.

Along with the Collector, City Police Commissioner Mahesh Chandra Laddha and Rural SP Attada Babujee told the media that all arrangements had been completed to ensure a ‘free and fair’ elections.

In joint raids, more than ₹12 crore have been seized so far and the amount will be returned, once the owners of the money account for it. The administration is also taking the help of Income Tax Department to verify the veracity of claims.

Strict timing

Polling will be conducted in the city limits from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and in the rural areas from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. “The time will be extended as per the guidelines issued by ECI only when there is a genuine need for it such as many voters are waiting in the queue by the deadline,” Mr. Bhaskar said.

The counting for all the constituencies will be done in the district headquarters. Training for polling personnel has been completed. The detailed list of polling stations will be released on April 10.

All vehicles on poll duty will have GPS facility to track suspicious elements. Electronic voting machines (EVM) and other polling material will be shifted to the respective polling booths amid heavy police bandobust.

3,000 bound over

Mr. Laddha said more than 3,000 persons have been bound over and a fine of ₹1 lakh will be imposed if anyone is found to be involved in unlawful activities. As many as 46 cases pertaining to violation of poll code have been registered and ₹4.92 crore in unaccounted cash has been seized.

Nearly 6,000 including four and a half companies of forces would be deployed in the seven Assembly segments under the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency. NSS, Scouts and Guides and ex-servicemen have also been drafted to work as volunteers, Mr. Laddha said.