Nuapada bypoll: Polling teams, EVMs ready as over 2.5 lakh people set to vote on Nov 11

With polling scheduled for November 11, election authorities in Nuapada on Monday completed final logistical and security preparations for the Assembly by-election, dispatching Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units and polling materials to 358 booths across the constituency and putting in place webcasting and enhanced security at sensitive locations.

Sources reported that each polling party will be accompanied by five government staff. The teams will move to their assigned stations on Monday and reach the booths by evening.

Voting will be held in most booths from 7 am to 5 pm on Tuesday. However, in 47 remote and Maoist-affected booths, polling will close earlier at 4 pm to allow the secure movement of personnel and material.

Logistics, Equipment And Webcasting In Place

District administrators completed vehicle requisitions and the distribution of polling equipment on Monday. All 358 polling stations will be covered by the Election Commission’s webcasting arrangements to enable live monitoring of polling activity, officials said. EVMs, VVPATs and other election paraphernalia have been moved out from central storage and allocated to respective polling teams.

Officials provided an electorate figure of 2,53,624 registered voters, of which 1,29,495 are women and 1,24,108 are men; authorities said final reconciliation of the electoral rolls is ongoing at some locations. Polling in the constituency will be followed by counting on November 14, 2025, three days after polling.

ALSO READ: Massive income tax raids in Nuapada on final day of Bypoll campaign

Tight Security Around Sensitive Booths

Authorities have identified 47 sensitive booths and 8 highly sensitive booths. In those locations, layered security arrangements have been made. Fourteen companies of the central armed forces have been deployed to supplement the local police.

Additional armed personnel have been posted at sensitive booths, while polling parties operating in Maoist-prone and inaccessible pockets will be escorted by specialised security detachments.

Because eight polling booths fall within or close to the Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary, an area that election officials described as Maoist-influenced and difficult to reach via land, arrangements have been made to move polling teams by air. The Election Commission has organised independent helicopter sorties, including through the Indian Air Force, to ferry officials and equipment to those booths, officials said.

ALSO READ: Nuapada bypoll: Political parties make intense last-ditch efforts to woo voters

Operational Measures To Ensure An Orderly Poll

To ensure strict compliance with election norms, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Odisha, announced that the statutory silence period began at 4 pm on Sunday and that all outstation political workers who had entered the constituency were instructed to leave. Polling parties are being escorted to their booths and will remain there until the close of voting and completion of formalities.

The Nuapada by-election was necessitated by the death of four-time MLA Rajendra Dholakia on September 8, 2025. The contest is expected to be a triangular battle among BJP’s Jay Dholakia, BJD’s Snehangini Chhuria, and Congress’s Ghasiram Majhi.