Booth randomisation conducted in Karnal in presence of party observer

Karnal, May 23

The third randomisation for booth allotment to polling parties and micro-observers was conducted in the presence of general observer E Ravindran and Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer, Uttam Singh. This randomisation was carried out for all five Assembly constituencies of the district including Nilokheri, Assandh, Gharaunda, Indri and Karnal.

There are 230 polling booths in Nilokheri, 214 in Indri, 223 in Karnal, 238 in Gharaunda, and 242 in Assandh, said Uttam Singh.

He maintained that the voting will be held on May 25, for which 2,027 polling stations had been established across the Lok Sabha constituency comprising Karnal and Panipat districts.

The District Election Officer has imposed section 144 of the CrPC to ensure smooth election process at the polling booths.

While issuing directions for the political parties, he said that political parties would not be allowed to set up their election booths within the distance of 200 meters from the complex of polling booths. Each booth will have only one table and two chairs along with an umbrella, tarpaulin or piece of cloth to protect the two people sitting at the booth from heat.

He further stated that the Election Commission had issued guidelines to maintain law and order and to prevent election campaigning in the prohibited areas around polling stations across the district.

He said that any candidate willing to set up such booths should inform the Returning Officer in writing in advance of the names and numbers of the polling stations where they propose to set up such booths. Before setting up such booths, they must obtain prior written permission from the relevant government officials or local authorities such as municipal councils/committees, district councils, town area committees, panchayat committees, village panchayats, etc., under the relevant local laws.

This written permission should be available with the person maintaining the booth so that it can be presented to the relevant police/election officials. These booths will only be used for issuing informal identification slips to voters. These informal identification slips will be strictly printed according to the Commission’s instructions, without the candidate’s name, symbol, or the political party’s name. Each booth will be allowed only one banner to display the candidate, their party, and the election symbol assigned to them, provided that such a banner does not exceed three feet in length and 4.5 feet in width.

Any banner that violates this restriction will be removed by the officials, he added.