 "Karnataka all set for polls")
The election commission hopes to improve the voting percentage to well above 70% across the state. About 46.21 million voters (23.55 million male and 22.61 million female voters) are eligible to cast their votes in this election. The ratio of female voters to male voters has increased to 96% this time, Anil Kumar Jha, chief electoral officer told reporters.
As many as 434 candidates are in the fray for 28 constituencies in the state, of which 11 constituencies have more than 16 candidates each. A total of 21 women candidates are contesting this time. Bangalore Central has a maximum of 25 candidates and Gulbarga (SC) has least number of five candidates in the contest.
Among the political parties, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress and BSP have fielded candidates in all 28 constituencies, while JD (S) is contesting from 25 constituencies. CPI has three, CPM has two and NCP has only one candidate in the fray. There are 195 independents in the contest.
Bangalore North parliamentary constituency is the largest constituency and Udupi-Chikmagalur is the smallest in terms of total electors.
For the first time, the commission will be using Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machine in all 1,025 polling booths in Bangalore South constituency on an experimental basis. The machine is also being used in six other constituencies across the country. VVPAT machine will enable a voter to verify his vote after casting in electronic voting machine, whether the vote has been recorded, with the help of a transparent window of a printer. The printed-paper slip will show the serial number, name and symbol of the candidate for whom the vote has been cast before the paper slip is cut and dropped in the drop box of the printer. The display will last only for seven seconds, Jha said.
He said the voters of Karnataka would also get to use the NOTA (none of the above) option for the first time. "This option was available earlier also, in the form of a register, wherein the voters who did not want to cast their vote to any of the candidates had to enter the details in a register and sign. However, it was visible to all and this time, this option is incorporated in the EVMs", he said.
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The commission has made arrangements for 54,264 polling booths across the state. Of this, 11,424 booths are hypersensitive and 14,960 booths are sensitive. The booths have been provided with 75,353 electronic voting machines and 54,261 control units with another five thousand spare sets in cases of emergency. There will be 6,072 booths installed with video cameras for surveillance and web-casting arrangement has been made at 6,087 booths.
The election commission and the state government together have made arrangements for deploying 60,000 security personnel that include civil police, armed police, home guards and paramilitary forces. Besides security personnel, the commission has deployed 295,000 persons for poll duty, of which 118,000 are women. Women staff has been exempted from staying overnight at the polling booths, Jha said.
The remuneration paid to the polling staff has been enhanced to Rs 175 to Rs 350 per day depending on the grade. The usage of mobile phones inside the polling booth by the voters has been strictly prohibited.
"We have also set up 100 model polling stations for the first time in Karnataka. Here, we have provided all basic amenities to voters like drinking water, better seating arrangement and better signages among others," Jha said.
As part of the search and seizure, the election commission has till now seized Rs 28 crore in cash, liquor and other materials across the state. This amount could further go up by the time the voting is completed on April 17, he said.
All the business establishments, private offices and government offices will remain closed on April 17 to facilitate the employees to cast their votes under the Section 135 (D) of the Representation of People Act, 1951, he said adding that if anyone violates the rule, strict penal action would be taken.
The commission has also identified 44 cases of violation of paid news by media houses and booked cases against three candidates.