The State election authority, the Chief Electoral Officer’s office, has commenced the exercise on ascertaining the number of new polling stations and the requirement of election equipment. Final list The exercise has been initiated after the publication of the final electors’ list on Friday which featured addition of close to 12 lakh voters. The Chief Electoral Officer’s office has initially estimated the number of polling stations to be 32,574 covering an electorate of 2.61 crore as on September 1. The figure was arrived at after an elaborate exercise which involved factors like segregation of voters of a particular locality in the polling stations located in the same area and ensuring accessible elections to persons with disabilities. Voters’ strength up However, the election authority is now mandated with enhancing the number of polling stations as voters’ strength went up by 11.81 lakh in the final rolls and is expected to rise further as the filing of claims and objections is set to continue till November 9, which is 10 days before the last date of filing nominations. The requirement of the election equipment including the control and ballot units and voter verifiable paper audit trail machines being deployed for the first time in the State is also expected to go up along with the number of polling stations. “We have asked the district election officers to come out with the polling station wise increase/decrease in the voters’ lists so that a final figure on the requirement can be assessed,” a senior official told The Hindu. Officials feel that the number of polling stations, particularly those in the remote and rural areas, is unlikely to change as the election authority had provided for adequate cushion in these areas to accommodate the new voters that are included in the final rolls. Maximum limit The polling stations where the voters strength is close to the maximum limit of 1,400 per polling station in urban areas and 1,200 per polling station in rural areas are likely to be affected with the increase in number of voters. “We are expecting the polling station wise details in a day or two after which the number of new polling stations required will be finalised,” the official said. The election authority will ascertain the requirement of the election-related equipment once the number of polling stations is ascertained so that an indent on the new machines can be forwarded to the Election Commission.

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