EC reviews poll prep as Covid cases decline

According to senior state election commission official, the number of polling stations will be brought down as the Capital's Covid-19 situation has improved.

With Covid-19 cases declining in the city, the state election commission (SEC) is reassessing its preparations for the local body elections.

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A senior state election commission official said the number of projected voters per polling station was kept on the lower side to ensure much more social distancing as the city was undergoing the third wave of the pandemic. But now that the situation has improved, the number of polling stations will be brought down, the official said.

“According to the planning that was carried out in January, we had estimated around 1,250 voters per polling station but now we will increase that to 1,350 electors per polling station.This will result in the reduction of around 500 polling stations,” the SEC official said, requesting anonymity.

The commission estimates that the increase of 100 electors per polling station will reduce the need for polling parties. “The number of EVM machines required for conducting polls will go down and around 2,500 fewer polling parties will be required,” the official added.

The civic elections are due in the Capital in April.