Webcasting to be arranged in all polling stations except those in border districts: ECI ahead of Punjab polls

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], December 16 (ANI): To bring about transparency in elections, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra on Thursday said the Election Commission of India (ECI) has assured all political parties that webcasting will be arranged in all polling stations except those in border districts.
"ECI has assured all political parties that webcasting will be arranged in all polling stations except those in border districts which come under shadow areas," CEC Chandra said while addressing a press conference here today.
He further said in view of COVID-19 pandemic to maintain social distancing norms, the maximum number of electors' at a polling station has been reduced from 1500 to 1200. "Because of this, we have increased the number of booths by 1,478 from last election. Total number of polling booths is 24,689 at present in whole Punjab," he added.
"At least 165 all-women managed polling stations will be set up in the state," Chandra said.
According to him, in previous Assembly polls in Punjab, the voter turnout dropped from 77.4 per cent in 2017 to 65.96 per cent in 2019.
"Now, 2,74,177 new voters in the state are registered. The voter gender ratio has improved from 898 to 902; Females have crossed the 1 crore mark in the voter's list," he noted.
"ECI reviewed overall poll preparedness with District Election Officers/Dy Commissioners & CPs/SSPs of all the 23 districts as also Chief Electoral Officer," he added.
A high-level team of the ECI reached here on Wednesday on a two-day visit to take stock of poll preparedness in the state ahead of Punjab Assembly Elections 2022.
The team comprised CEC Sushil Chandra, Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey.
The Commission's team also comprised three Deputy Election Commissioners, Chandra Bhushan Kumar, Nitesh Vyas and T Sreekanth, besides Director-General Sheyphali B Sharan.
Chief Electoral Officer Punjab Dr S Karuna Raju received the full commission at the Mohali Airport here and warm reception was accorded at the meeting venue in Chandigarh.
In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, Congress won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years.
Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could only manage to win 15 seats while the BJP secured 3 seats. (ANI)