16.23 L voters eligible to vote in J&K's Udhampur LS seat

Jammu, April 18 (IANS) The Udhampur Parliamentary constituency is all set to go to polls in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections being held on April 19, with a total of 16.23 lakh voters, including 8.45 lakh men and 7.77 lakh women, eligible to vote and participate in the electoral process. 

The total voters include around 23,637 persons with disability, besides 403 persons aged above 100 years who have been enrolled to participate in the electoral process.

According to a statement by the office of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer, around 2,637 polling stations are completely ready for first phase of the general elections being held across five districts of Kathua, Udhampur, Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban. Of these, 136 polling stations are P-2 category while 31 polling stations belong to P-7 to P-3 category.

Among the districts, Kathua has 25 polling stations along the international border. In total, more than 11,000 polling staff, including reserves, will be deployed on duty.

The statement added that the polling will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. before which there will be a mock poll in the presence of the polling agents.

The voting will continue even after 6 p.m, in case there will be the voters still waiting for their turn in the polling station premises.

"Every polling station will be provided with Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF), besides wheelchairs will also be provided to the needy. The ballot units will have list of contesting candidates in brail script. Where ever required there will be separate que for senior citizens and differently-abled persons facilitating them for early voting. Additionally, there will be a voter help desk, manned by concerned Booth Level Officer (BLO) to extend necessary help to the needy," an official statement said.

"There will be 19 polling booths manned by women (also called as pink polling stations), 14 polling booths manned by differently-abled persons and 17 will be looked after by youth. Also in order to spread message about environmental concern, there will be 20 green polling stations."

The statement added that aimed to facilitate voters in identification and increase voter turnout, all voters have been provided with voter information slip with all requisite details like polling station name, date and time of poll, serial number of voter in the list, his/her full name, QR code but not the photograph of the voter. Hence, voter information slips will not be allowed as proof of the identity of voters.

"The concerned BLOs have already distributed voter information slips among all the electorates. Also, the citizens can view details of the polling station, Parliamentary constituency, and get the contact details of the Booth Level Officer, Electoral Registration Officer, among other services, through Voter Helpline App (VHA). This mobile app is available on the Google Play store and Apple App Store."

"In addition to Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), 12 types of documents will also be allowed to verify a voter and allow him for voting as EPIC card is not mandatory for voting. These documents included Aadhaar Card, MGNREGA Job Card, passbooks with photograph issued by bank/post office, Health Insurance Smart Card issued under scheme of Ministry of Labour, driving license, PAN Card, smart card issued by RGI under NPR, Indian passport, pension document with photograph, service identity cards with photograph issued to employees by Central/State government/PSUs/public limited companies, official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs and Unique Disability ID Card, issued by Union Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment," the statement said.

"The Voter Turnout App will be used to display estimated provisional voter turnout details of each Parliamentary constituency entered by the Returning Officer. The media can also use the same application to capture estimated voter turnout data. The voter turnout data of each phase of the elections will be displayed through this app. There will be two hourly reporting of voting percentage from 9 a.m. to the end of poll. The concerned Assistant Returning Officer and Returning Officer will share the data with media accordingly. Even the updated figures will be placed in the voter turnout app."

Around 1,440 polling stations in phase-I will have CCTV cameras for live webcasting to control rooms established at District and Chief Electoral Officer's office. Besides, 200 polling stations will have two cameras, for inside and outside surveillance.

Around 2,100 vehicles of polling parties and sector officers will be equipped with GPS system so as to locate the vehicle and monitor movement.

The satellite phones, wireless sets and special runners have been put in place for about 95 polling stations which are in communication shadow areas.