Guwahati: With barely a day remaining for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections with five parliamentary constituencies of Assam going for polls on Friday (April 19), all preparations are afoot for its smooth conduct in the state.
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Assam has completed all necessary arrangements to conduct the polls in a free, fair, safe and peaceful manner. To keep a strong vigil on law and order, and expenditure among others, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has already appointed Election Observers.
As a major push for conducting the elections in the state in a free and fair manner, live monitoring and webcasting have been arranged by the CEO, Assam for monitoring of poll day proceedings as per ECI’s direction.
The total number of polling stations for the first phase of the LS polls in Assam is 10,001, out of which, 92 are model polling stations, 11 are Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) managed polling stations, and 752 are female-managed polling stations.
Webcasting will be done in all the 5,509 polling stations. Through webcasting, the ECI, CEO, Assam and District Election Officers will be able to monitor the voting process at the polling stations live on the polling day.
Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF) like provision for drinking water, adequate furniture, waiting shed, toilet, adequate arrangements for lighting, provision for crèche for children, proper signage, provision for ramp to facilitate the PwD voters and senior citizen electors, and display of voter facilitation posters are made available at all the polling stations.
Arrangements like transport facilities for elderly people, and assistance from volunteers along with wheelchairs to the PwD voters, and senior citizens are arranged at the polling stations.
The mobile application- ‘Saksham’ may be used by the PwD voters for opting for transportation by registering online. Moreover, other Information Technology (IT) applications like the ‘Voter Helpline’ app, ‘KYC-ECI’ app, ‘cVIGIL’ app, and Election Helpline number 1950 are available for the benefit of the voters.
During these Lok Sabha elections, a total of 40,004 polling and presiding officers will be engaged and a total of 10,001 Ballot Units (BUs), 10,001 Control Units (CUs), and 10,001 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) will be used.
The ECI has also deputed Micro Observers for the critical polling stations. The mock poll shall start 90 minutes before the commencement of the actual polls. As many as 35 candidates are in fray in five parliamentary constituencies of Assam- Kaziranga, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh and Jorhat, in the first phase of the general elections 2024.
On the other hand, a total of 86,47,869 electors will exercise their franchise in Phase 1 of the polls on Friday. Out of these, 42,82,887 are male electors, 43,64,859 are female, and 123 are third gender.
Moreover, to ensure an inclusive election, the option of a postal ballot facility is extended to senior citizens above the age of 85 years, PwDs, in addition to the persons employed in essential services. The time for the poll starts at 7 am and ends at 5 pm.