India’s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday announced that polling in Tamil Nadu will be held on April 23, and appealed to citizens to vote without fail.
He said the Election Commission held consultations during visits to five states—Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal—with recognised political parties and state officials. He added that this election will be conducted after the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, and that ineligible persons will not be able to vote.
Across the five states, the electorate totals 17.4 crore voters. In Tamil Nadu alone, there are 5.67 crore voters—2,77,38,925 men, 2,89,69,838 women and 7,617 third-gender voters. The state also has 12.51 lakh first-time voters.
A total of 2.19 lakh polling stations will be set up across the five states, averaging one booth for about 700 voters. Tamil Nadu will have 75,032 polling stations, including 30,967 in urban areas and 44,065 in rural areas; one booth will be set up for five voters at Vellimalai in Varusanadu, Theni district.
The CEC said 1,444 election observers will be appointed, with about 25 lakh officials deployed for election duty. Security arrangements will include 8.50 lakh personnel from the armed forces and police, and polling centres will be monitored 100% through web cameras; facilities will also be provided to safely keep mobile phones at polling stations.
