Mock polls underway in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry ahead of voting

Ahead of assembly polls in Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry, officials conducted mock polls to ensure smooth voting. Preparations are underway for the elections, which will see over 2.6 crore electors in Kerala and 2.5 crore in Assam cast their votes.

Ahead of the voting in Assam, Keralam and the Union Territory of Puducherry, the officials conducted mock polls at various polling booths on Thursday. The Mock polls are underway at polling booth 262 at Anappara Government School in Pathanamthitta in Keralam. Mock polling is underway for the Assam Assembly Elections at polling station numbers 115 and 116 in Kamrup Metropolitan District and at polling station no. 9 at Girls' High School at Thrippunithura.

Voting preparation is also underway in Puducherry. Voting will be held for 126 seats in Assam, 140 in Keralam, and 30 in Puducherry in this phase of the election. Tamil Nadu will go to the polls on April 23, and West Bengal on April 23 and 29. Votes will be counted on May 4. The polling will begin at 7 am.

Kerala Election Details

In Keralam, over 2.6 crore electors will decide the fate of 883 candidates across 140 constituencies. Of the 2,69,53,644 registered voters across the state, there are 1,38,27,319 women voters, and the number of male voters stands at 1,31,26,048. Officials said 277 voters have been registered in the 'third gender category.' Among the electorate, nearly 4,24,518 voters fall in the 18-19 age group, while 2,04,608 voters are aged 85 years and above To facilitate safe and secure polling, a total of 30,471 polling stations have been set up, which comprises 119 logistic and voter machine distribution centres and 41 vote counting centres.

Assam Election Details

In Assam, more than 2.5 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise for the 126-member legislative assembly. There are 722 candidates in the fray. Of 2,50,54,463 electors, 1,25,31,552 are male voters and 1,25,22,593 females. There are 318 voters in the Transgender category and 63,423 service voters. Among the electorate, 6,42,314 voters are in the age group of 18-19 years, 2,50,006 are above 80 years of age, and 2,05,085 are persons with disabilities.

To strengthen the monitoring mechanism, webcasting facilities have been arranged in accordance with the Commission's directions, a release said. Webcasting has been enabled in all 31,490 polling stations, including 31,486 main polling stations and 4 auxiliary polling stations. A total of 1,51,132 polling personnel have been deployed for the conduct of the election. For polling purposes, 41,320 Ballot Units, 43,975 Control Units, and 43,997 VVPAT machines have been arranged, including reserves for emergency use. Additional polling personnel have also been kept in readiness, if required.

Puducherry Election Details

In Puducherry, 10,14,070 electors are eligible to cast their votes to elect a 30-member Legislative Assembly. The electorate includes 5,39,125 female voters, 4,74,788 male voters, and 157 voters belonging to the third gender category. A total of 24,156 voters fall in the age group of 18-19 years, while 6,034 voters belong to the senior citizen category, aged 85 and above.

Speaking with ANI, Puducherry Chief Electoral Officer P Jawahar said that 110 sector officers have been deployed across 1,099 polling stations, out of which 209 stations are categorised as vulnerable.

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