Over 18L voters to decide fate of candidates in Anantnag

Srinagar, May 23

As campaigning for South Kashmir’s Anantnag-Rajouri seat ended today, the fate of 20 candidates will be decided by over 18.36 lakh voters on May 25.

Of the total voters, 9,33,647 are male, and 9,02,902 are female in five districts of Kulgam, Anantnag, Poonch, Shopian and Rajouri. The EC has set up 2,338 polling stations across the the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency.

Four election staff, including presiding officer will be stationed in every polling station. Over 9,000 polling staff, including reserve will be deployed on duty. There are 19 border polling stations in the districts of Rajouri and Poonch.

In order to facilitate the voters and also to increase voter turnout ratios, all voters have been provided with voter information slips with information like polling station name, date and time of poll, serial number of voter in the list, his full name, QR code but not the photograph of the voter. Hence, Voter Information Slips will not be allowed as proof of the identity of voters. Proof of identity will be any documents out of 12 documents, including EPIC. The BLO concerned has distributed 100% voter information slips.

The citizens can also view details of the Polling Station, Parliamentary Constituency, and get the contact details of the booth-level officer, electoral registration officer among other services, through Voter Helpline App (VHA). The mobile app is available on the Google Play store and Apple Store.

With the aim of spreading awareness among the voters, Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) emerged as a comprehensive programme aimed at reinforcing voter education and promoting active participation in democratic process. The need for SVEEP arises from the Election Commission of India’s unwavering commitment to ensuring the participation of every voter in this monumental celebration of democracy.

All the polling stations in Anantnag-Rajouri will have cameras for live webcasting to control rooms established at the district and CEO office. The cameras will be positioned in such a way so that they don’t violate the secrecy of vote.

“The EC is committed to provide basic facilities in all the polling stations and give better experience to voters,” an official said.