Polling Arrangements Completed for Urban Local Body Elections Across North Andhra
Polling for the second general elections to the GVMC will be held in 120 wards from 7 am to 5 pm.
VISAKHAPATNAM: Officials across North Andhra have completed arrangements for urban local body elections scheduled for Sunday, with polling preparations covering the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), municipalities in Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts, municipal bodies in Anakapalle district and urban local bodies in Parvathipuram Manyam district.
In Visakhapatnam, district collector and election authority M. Abishikth Kishore reviewed the arrangements and inspected the distribution of polling materials to election personnel on Saturday. Polling for the second general elections to the GVMC will be held in 120 wards from 7 am to 5 pm.
The collector said voters must cast two votes — one for the mayoral candidate and another for the ward candidate. Pink ballot papers will be used for the mayoral election and white ballot papers for the ward member election. Both ballots must be deposited in the same ballot box.
GVMC commissioner and additional election authority Ketan Garg said arrangements had been made at all 1,990 polling stations across the corporation's 10 zones. He appealed to voters to exercise their franchise freely and without fear. He also inspected election material distribution centres across the city.
In Vizianagaram district, collector S. Ram Sundar Reddy, election observer Tej Bharat and SP A.R. Damodar reviewed arrangements at the Rajiv Stadium distribution centre. Elections will be held in the Vizianagaram, Bobbili and Nellimarla municipalities, where 322 polling stations have been set up. Authorities have arranged 82 vehicles to transport election personnel and materials. Webcasting and CCTV monitoring have been arranged at sensitive polling stations.
The Srikakulam district administration has completed arrangements for polling in the Ichchapuram and Palasa-Kasibugga municipalities. Ichchapuram has 31,452 voters across 28 wards, who will cast their votes at 39 polling stations. Palasa-Kasibugga has 49,420 voters in 36 wards and 67 polling stations.
More than 550 polling personnel have been deployed at the 106 polling stations in the two municipalities. Around 1,100 police personnel, including senior officers and special security teams, have also been mobilised to maintain law and order.
In Anakapalle district, a one-day training programme was conducted for presiding officers, assistant presiding officers and micro-observers. Collector Vijayakrishnan and Joint Collector Saurya Man Patel instructed officials to follow election guidelines and ensure that polling stations had the required facilities for voters.
In Parvathipuram Manyam district, collector and district election officer Dr N. Prabhakar Reddy directed officials to provide CCTV surveillance, videography and webcasting facilities at polling stations. He also instructed them to implement holiday provisions to enable employees and workers to vote.
Officials across the region said the arrangements and security measures were in place for free, fair and peaceful polling on Sunday.
