Polling arrangements in place for ZPTC, MPTC elections in Eluru district

Eluru District Collector K. Vetri Selvi on Wednesday said elaborate arrangements had been made to ensure the smooth and peaceful conduct of polling for the Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) and Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) elections scheduled for November 5.

Inspecting the distribution of polling equipment at the distribution centre set up at the Unguturu Mandal Parishad Development Office, she reviewed the arrangements and interacted with polling personnel to ascertain their preparedness.

The Collector said polling would be held for 27 ZPTC and 454 MPTC seats in the district, with counting scheduled for November 7. As many as 12,96,515 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise at 1,555 polling stations. A total of 2,444 ballot boxes would be used for the elections.

Additional security arrangements had been made at sensitive and highly sensitive polling stations to prevent any untoward incidents, she said.

Each polling station would have a presiding officer and one to three other polling personnel, depending on the number of voters. The personnel had been imparted training twice on election procedures. Polling equipment and staff would be transported to their respective polling stations in designated vehicles, with a route officer accompanying them on each bus.

Polling would be held from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday. The Collector instructed the staff to ensure that all polling stations were ready by 6 a.m.