People through vote can decide the type of government they want, says CEO Manoj Kumar Meena

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: The voting for phase 1 of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 is scheduled for April 26 where around 2.88 crore voters from 14 constituencies will cast their votes, Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Meena said on Sunday.

There are 11,000 service voters, around 1.44 crore voters are male while 1.43 crore are female voters along with 5.99 lakh first time voters here.

Home voting for the people above the age of 85 years and persons with Disabilities (PwDs) has started and will go on till April 18, he said.

Heightened security

Separate teams are keeping an eye out for any suspicious activities and violation of the MCC norms.

The Flying Squad Teams (FST) and Static Surveillance Teams (SST) along with other officials will be working in three shifts of eight hours each day keeping an eye on suspicious activities.

District Superintendent of Police (SP) and the Police Observers have been assigned to keep a watch on irregularities.

We have identified a few sensitive polling stations, the details of which cannot be shared, the Chief Electoral Officer said. Elections in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu will be held on April 19 due to which the border between the two states will remain closed from April 17.

Similarly, Tamil Nadu will close the border again during the elections in Karnataka. This is to prevent any untoward incident.

The Chief Election Officer said that the EC has set up 30,602 polling booths with basic facilities and necessary infrastructure to ease the process.

Encouraging the people to vote

According to ECI data, 40 urban centres across Kar nataka, excluding Bengaluru, have reported turnout lower than the state average in recent elections.

When News Trail asked about it, Manoj Kumar Meena said that they have identified places with lowest turnout and special funds have been allocated to these centres to facilitate additional Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) activities.

Measures are being taken to ensure all necessary facilities are provided to voters at the booth level, further enhancing the voting experience and turnout.

“Keeping the scorching hot weather, measures are being taken to provide adequate shade, drinking water and seating facilities to elderly and women voters. Apart from these emergency services including medications and ambulances will also be arranged,” he said.

For the people working in IT firms and other private companies, the CEO suggested that they be given a day off so that they can vote.

“We have reached several IT professionals through their employers,” he said.

What happens to hordes of cash seized during election season?

The Chief Electoral Officer told News Trail that so far valuables including cash, alcohol and drugs worth Rs 345.89 crore have been seized in the state.

“In many cases when a large amount of cash is intercepted by teams deployed by the EC, the team on the spot may not be able to find adequate evidence to prove that it is linked to the polls,” he said adding that the Income Tax (IT) Department then takes charge of the cash and conducts the requisite proceedings to check if the cash is accounted for.

If not, the tax and penalties, if any, are deducted from the amount and the rest is given back to whom it was confiscated from.

A court then hears the case, and if it rules that the seized amount was not meant for election purposes, such as bribes to voters, it is returned to the person.

“However, in a few cases, if the court rules that the cash seized was for election purposes, it gets deposited in the district treasuries,” the official said.

What is the policy on transfer of officers ahead of elections?

According to the policy of the Election Commission (EC), all officers who were either posted in their home district or have completed three years at a place are transferred out ahead of Lok Sabha or assembly polls to ensure they do not disturb the level-playing field in favour of a candidate or a party, the CEO said.

“However it does not mean that the department be shuffled in a disorderly manner. Rather the motive here is to plug loopholes that can be exploited by the state governments,” he said.