Voting window extended by 1 hour amidst heat wave, polling preparations finalized

MAHABUBNAGAR: Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana, Collector and Returning Officer of the Mahabubnagar Parliament Constituency, Ravi Gugulothu, stated that all arrangements, including the important Randomization Of EVMs and polling preparations as per ECI guidelines, have been finalized.

"All arrangements with respect to the ballot papers, finalisation of the contesting candidates, everything is ready. Training to the polling personals, first round of has been completed, second round planning on May 6th & 7th. With respect to the heat wave conditions, as per the ECI instructions and from the office of the CEO, all the facilities including the fans, lights, provision of drinking water, as well as providing shade all along the queue. Separate toilets are been provided for men and women. With respect to the commissioning of EVMs, today and tomorrow all the seven segments, the preparations of the EVMs to the polling stations also been done, the randomation part is done," the Mahabubnagar returning officer said.

In a move to accommodate voters amidst the scorching heat, the voting window has been extended by an hour. "The polling hours have been extended from 7 am to 6 pm," announced the Collector. To address the issue of family split of of polling booths, the returning officer claimed that "As per the instructions from the CEO office, all the door to door verification has been done and wherever split families were identified with correction in the booths, it has been brought to the main head and now we don't have any such split families". Addressing concerns over electoral integrity, the official highlighted measures taken to address potential issues. "Critical booths have been identified, where additional police and CRPF forces have been deployed. Micro observers, along with webcasting inside and outside polling stations, will ensure transparent proceedings," he said.

"Home voting we are doing it through 23 teams. Each team would be having two polling officials, one videographer and one security personnel. The route of the home voting also been shared with the contesting candidates. There are also authorised to accompany this home voting team, so that they can also see the performance if at all there is any biased or anything on the polling personnel part can be monitored. We have around 540 people who are casting their votes through home" Voting for all 17 seats in Telangana will take place in a single phase. Polling will be held on May 13 in the fourth phase in Telangana.