Kerala Elections: Tight security in Kollam, CCTVs at 26 stations

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: District Election Officer and District Collector B Abdul Nasar said preparations for the general elections in the district have been completed. The last randomisation took place on Sunday. Polling materials were collected from the counter at the distribution centre from 8 am on Monday by the polling officials in charge of each booth after completing the procedures. They will then be taken to the booths in special vehicles as per the instructions of the route officers. Booth arrangements should be made at the polling stations and it should be registered with the location in the Poll Manager app. The app is allowed to be used on polling day and the day before. 

The presiding officer, first polling officer and sectoral officer can use the app available through the Google Play Store. This is a system where the District Election Officer and the returning officer can monitor the polling information from all the polling stations in the district in real-time through the application.

Officials can also pass on information via SOS if polling is disrupted due to voting machine malfunctions or law and order issues. Each distribution centre will have a help desk comprising  six technicians headed by a selector to resolve any queries related to the app. In addition to the presiding officer and three polling officials, two more have been added to the staff for sanitisation and thermal checking.

Supervision of police patrols, sectoral officers and observers has been ensured. Webcasting has been set up at 1,438 polling booths and CCTV has been installed at 26 polling stations. The Central Army has also deployed special security at polling stations where there are chances of clashes.Voting machines will be sealed and ready for voting after a mock poll in the presence of polling agents at 5.30 am on Tuesday.
The voting process will start at 7am and will continue till 7pm. Those in the queue at 7pm will also be allowed to vote by giving a token. In the last hour, those who are Covid positive and those with suspected case of infection can vote according to Covid standards.

Covid protocol
PPE kits are provided to the officials to ensure security during the voting of Covid patients. Polling officials will record the polling status every half an hour through the Poll Manager app. The arrangement is such that detailed polling information is available when the voting is complete.

Sectoral officers are responsible for replacing voting machines in the event of any malfunction. The ‘Ele traces’ (Election Tracking Enabled System) app is also used to capture the Geo location of every movement of sectoral officer. The information recorded in it will be uploaded to the server of the Central Election Commission.Officials should seal the voting machines after the polling is over and the procedures are completed. As per instructions, the designated vehicles should return to the reception centre and return the voting machines to the counter.