Nine special polling stations have been set up for internally displaced people in the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat that will head to the polls on Friday.
Polling in 13 assembly segments of Outer Manipur seat, a seat reserved for the scheduled tribes, will be held in eight districts – Ukhrul, Kamjong, Tamenglong, Noney, Senapati, Jiribam, Tengnoupal and Pherzawl. Voting will start at 7 am and will continue till 4 pm.
According to a statement by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Manipur, there are a total of 4,84,949 voters in the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat, including 2,39,140 men, 2,45,807 women and two transgenders who are eligible to vote in the second phase of Lok Sabha polls.
FACILITIES AVAILABLE FOR VOTERS
There are a total of 848 polling stations, including 36 P-3 polling stations, 279 P-2 polling stations and 533 P-1 polling stations, the Manipur CEO said.
“Nine special polling stations have been set up for internally displaced voters. Of the nine, four each will be in Ukhrul and Tengnoupal and one in Jiribam. A total of 529 internally displaced voters will exercise their franchise in their respective special polling stations on Friday, the CEO said.
Interestingly, a special polling station has been set up for only one voter in the Tengnoupal district.
As many as 202 polling stations will be completely managed by all-women polling personnel. One polling station will be exclusively managed by all PwD polling personnel. Besides, there will be 22 model polling stations that have been decorated and spruced up.
Over 3,400 polling personnel have been deployed for Phase 2 of Lok Sabha elections. All arrangements have been made for webcasting/videography for all the polling stations.
SECURITY TIGHTENED
As many as 87 companies of Central Armed Police Forces have been deployed in addition to 4,000 state armed personnel in the polling stations.
As done in Phase 1, there will be provision for pick-up and drop facilities, and a wheelchair facility for PwD and elderly electors. A total of 2,747 PwD electors and 454 centenarian voters are set to exercise their franchise on Friday.
Two volunteers have been deployed at each polling station to assist voters.
A voter assistance booth has also been set up in all polling stations. ASHA workers have been identified for every polling station to provide immediate healthcare for the voters.
In addition, Anganwadi workers have been engaged to facilitate pregnant and lactating mothers to vote with ease. First aid kits have been provided for all polling stations.
As done in Phase 1, the movement of EVMs will be tracked with the help of e-Traccar App, which is embedded in the mobile phones of polling personnel and sector officers. Besides, a polling personnel will be able to report any sort of EVM malfunctioning or any untoward incident happening in the polling station.
The Poll Star app will also be used for timely reporting of voter turnout and other vital information by the polling officials. Control rooms have been set up in every district headquarters and in the Office of Manipur CEO.
WHAT NOT TO DO
To ensure free, fair and smooth conduct of the election, certain restrictions have been imposed on voting day on all polling stations’ premises. Providing free conveyance to voters to and from the polling stations by a candidate/his agent is a corrupt practice and strictly forbidden.
As provided in Section 130 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, canvassing within a polling station or any public or private place within a distance of 100 metres of a polling station is strictly prohibited.
Cellular phones, cordless phones etc., shall not be allowed except officers on duty within a 100-metre radius of a polling station. Besides, no campaign-related posters or banners within 100 metres of the polling booth will be allowed.
Use of loudspeakers within a 100-metre radius of the polling station is also strictly prohibited. Candidates should also not set up booths within 200 metres of the polling booth.
WHAT ARE THE DOCUMENTS ACCEPTED FOR VOTING
All voters have been appealed to come out in large numbers and to exercise their franchise. Voters are expected to produce their voter ID cards for their identification at the polling stations before casting their votes.
Those who are not able to produce their voter ID cards can show one of the 12 alternative identity documents for establishing their identity – Aadhaar card, MNREGA job card, passbooks with photograph issued by bank/post office, health insurance smart card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour, driving licence, PAN card, smart card issued by RGI under NPR, passport, pension document with photograph, service identity cards with photograph issued to employees by central or state government/PSUs/Public Limited Companies, Official identity cards issued to MPs/1VILAs/MLCs and Unique Disability ID (UDID) Card, Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment, Government of India.