A total of 62,87,000 voters are going to exercise their franchise at 7,303 polling centres in the first phase of the general elections in Odisha on May 13, said Nikunja Bihari Dhal, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Odisha, on Saturday.
While briefing journalists about the preparedness for voting, the CEO said, “Of the total 7,303 polling centres, 1,264 have been identified as critical polling stations and 60 per cent of the total centres will be covered with webcasting.”
“Generally two ballot units are required when there are more than 15 candidates contesting for an Assembly seat. As 17 candidates are contesting for the Berhampur Assembly seat, two ballot units will be used for it. For Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies, we have commissioned 18,539 ballot units, 19,039 control units and 19,945 VVPATs,” he informed.
While 715 booths will be managed by women, 1,276 Adarsh booths have been set up, he added.
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According to the CEO, in this phase, female voters outnumber their male counterparts. The numbers of male and female voters are 30,97,000 and 31,89,000, respectively. Similarly, there are 1,75,000 young voters and 14,68,000 voters are in the age group of 20-29 years.
He also informed that a total of 243 candidates are in the fray for 28 Assembly constituencies that are going to poll in the first phase.
For smooth polling, as many as 52,500 polling personnel will be engaged. To maintain law and order situation at booths, 104 companies of security personnel, 60 companies of armed police forces, 31 companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and six companies of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will be deployed.