34,784 voters to decide North-East Teachers’ Constituency election

As many as 34,784 voters are eligible to vote in the October 23 election to one seat in the Karnataka Legislative Council from the North-East Teachers’ Constituency. Elaborate arrangements have been made across the constituency to ensure strict enforcement of the model code of conduct, Regional Commissioner and Returning Officer Zehera Naseem said on Saturday (October 11).

Addressing a press conference at her office in Kalaburagi, she said 13 candidates remained in the fray after the completion of the nomination withdrawal process. The constituency covers seven districts — Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Ballari and Vijayanagara.

Various teams, including flying squads, static surveillance teams, video surveillance teams, video viewing teams, model code of conduct teams, the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC), complaint monitoring teams and media viewing teams, have been constituted in the districts to monitor compliance with election rules. Sector officers have also been appointed to oversee local law and order arrangements.

Ms. Naseem said all election-related permissions would be issued through the respective Deputy Commissioners. Permissions for vehicles used for campaigning across the entire constituency would be issued by the Returning Officer’s office.

Clarifying the rules on campaign expenditure, she said there was no prescribed expenditure limit for candidates in this election. However, candidates were prohibited from offering money or other inducements to voters.

“Arrangements were being made to ensure free, fair, impartial and transparent polling on October 23 and counting on October 27. Polling personnel had been appointed through the Deputy Commissioners, while micro-observers would be deployed at each counting table. The first round of training for election personnel would be held on October 12 and the second on October 17 at the district level. Webcasting facilities would be provided both inside and outside all polling stations,” she said.

Kalaburagi has the highest number of voters

Of the 34,784 registered voters, 20,040 are men and 14,744 are women. Kalaburagi district has the highest number of voters at 10,652, followed by Bidar with 7,038 and Raichur with 5,402.

A total of 144 polling stations have been established across the constituency. These include 40 in Kalaburagi, 33 in Bidar, 20 in Koppal, 18 in Vijayanagara, 16 in Raichur, nine in Ballari and eight in Yadgir.

Polling will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on October 23. Voters can cast their votes by producing any one of the 14 identity documents approved by the Election Commission, Ms. Naseem said.

Voters advised to mark preferences carefully

Explaining the voting procedure, she said voters would cast their votes on ballot papers by marking their preferences among the candidates. The NOTA option would not be available in this election.

She also cautioned voters that if a preference number was omitted, the subsequent preferences could become invalid. Voters should therefore follow the prescribed procedure carefully while marking their ballot papers.

Counting will be held at Bhaskar Hall in the Mathematics Department of Gulbarga University on October 27.

A 24-hour helpline, 08472-200255, has been established at the Returning Officer’s office to receive election-related complaints from the public and political parties.