CHENNAI: Poll officials on Friday started installing ballot papers in electronic voting machines to be used for RK Nagar by-poll scheduled on December 21. The final set of paramilitary force for RK Nagar also arrived with their senior officers to RK Nagar. According to sources, the central observers from the election commission of India monitored the installation process at the government training college in Tondiarpet and discussed the logistics of storing the EVM machines. They also took stock of the central paramilitary force deployed for RK Nagar. To ensure trouble-free polls, 11 companies including both CISF and CRPF personnel are deployed. Almost all the polling booths will have a two-tier security system in place.
The randomised machines with symbols will be stored in a strong room till Tuesday. They will be dispatched to the polling stations on Wednesday along with indelible ink and voters roll, sources said. Meanwhile, the election commission of India has deployed central observer V. Batra to take care of the overall polling process related to RK Nagar. Batra has already been the central observer during the rescinded April by-poll. Another expenditure observer Manvendra Goyal is also to join the election commission making the total number of observers to an all-time high in the history of by-polls.
Under systematic voter education and electoral participation (SVEEP) programme, the poll officials also put up awareness stickers insisting the voters to come forward and vote. Stickers were also pasted on drinking water cans and LPG cylinders that were taken care of consumers. On Friday, 17 more police FIRs were also filed and as on Friday, the total number of cash seizures stood at Rs 6.34 lakh.
