State Election Commission officials gearing up for upcoming elections

Vikarabad: The State Election Commission officials have begun making preparations for the upcoming elections owing to early dissolving of Telangana Assembly.  Vikarabad district administration has started making necessary arrangements such as providing the basic facilities at polling booths, imparting training to election staff and providing EVMs. Three days ago, the administration has finalized the location of polling booths and identified additional polling booths or reduction wherever necessary.  The process of revising electoral list, which began before dissolving, is now being done as per the new instructions from the Election Commission.

In view of apprehensions regarding EVMs, the commission has decided to install Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines at every polling booth. Voters can now get the receipts after registering vote. The receipts show the party voter has voted for. Since the EVMs used in the past do not have this facility, the commission has decided to replace the old machines with new ones, for which the proposals were being sent. 

It is estimated that the district requires 1,530 EVMs and the administration has made preparations to bring EVMS on 15th of this month. In the four constituencies of the district, there are 1,095 polling booths, of which 299 are in Parigi, 272 in Vikarabad, 260 in Tandur and 264 in Kodangal. In view of indications that the elections may be held in the month of November, mandal level election officials are busy making preparations for the training of AEROs. The staff will be given special training to handle the new EVMs, which have VVPATs attached to them. 

The officials also advised tahasildars to supervise the voter registration programs. This apart, the officials are focusing on providing basic amenities at polling booths. The district administration has completed the selections of election officers as per instructions of Election Commission. Vikarabad RDO is appointed as election official for Parigi constituency, Venumadhav Rao for Tandur and Aruna Kumari, joint collector of Kodangal, for Vikarabad.