Polling Curtailed to 3 pm at 43 Booths in Polavaram
The State Election Commission (SEC) has curtailed polling hours to 3 pm at 43 polling stations in the Chintur and Rampachodavaram divisions of Polavaram district for the ZPTC and MPTC elections, citing security concerns.
kakinada: The State Election Commission (SEC) has curtailed polling hours to 3 pm at 43 polling stations in the Chintur and Rampachodavaram divisions of Polavaram district for the ZPTC and MPTC elections, citing security concerns.
District collector K. Dinesh Kumar said polling at all other stations would continue as usual from 7 am to 5 pm.
He urged voters in the affected areas to cast their votes before 3 pm on November 3.
The affected polling stations are located in areas affected by Left-wing extremism, characterised by dense forests, difficult hilly terrain, limited road connectivity and hazardous transport routes.
After reviewing the proposal submitted by the district administration, the SEC decided to curtail polling hours in view of the security challenges.
Dinesh Kumar clarified that the revised timings would apply not only to polling scheduled for November 3 but also to any re-polling required on November 4.
The affected stations include three in Y. Ramavaram mandal (1, 2 and 8), seven in Gurthedu (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 and 11), four in Maredumilli (1, 2, 8 and 11), one in Devipatnam (26), seven in Rajavommangi (3, 4, 6, 7, 14, 17 and 24), four in Rampachodavaram (1, 2, 3 and 4), and 17 in Chintur (1 to 8, 10, 14, 15 and 18 to 23).
The collector also said the public grievance redressal system had been suspended until December 2 or the completion of the polling process, owing to the election code and preparations for smooth and fair polling, including deployment of personnel and security arrangements.
