Team Herald
PANJIM: The stage is set as Goa gears up for polling on Monday. More than 11.64 lakh voters will exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 301 candidates across 40 assembly seats.
The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is being challenged by Congress, Trinamool Congress and Aam Admi Party (AAP) and other regional political fronts, in a multi-cornered electoral contest in the state.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has said that Goa will have a single phase elections. Vote counting will take place on 10 March.
The polling for 40-assembly seats across 1722 polling stations will be held from 7.00am to 6.00pm, with the final hour that is 5.00pm to 6.00pm being dedicated to COVID-19 patients.
A record number of 301 candidates, include 82 Independent are in fray. There are 26 female candidates.
A total of 11, 64,224 voters are eligible to vote in the Goa Assembly Elections. This includes 9,590 people with disabilities (PwDs), 2,997 aged over 80 years, 41 sex workers and nine transgender. There are 298 service voters.
Chief Electoral Officer Kunal said the average number of eligible voters per booth in the state is 672, which is the lowest in the country. He also informed that 80 polling stations have been added keeping in mind the Covid situation in the state.
The Vasco Assembly constituency has the highest number of 35,139 eligible voters, while the Mormugao seat has the lowest number of voters at 24, 409.
There are 105 all-women polling booths, also called as the 'pink booths'. “Until last election, we had one pink booth in every constituency but this time, we have total 105. These polling booths will be manned by women officers,” Kunal said.
There are eight polling booths managed by differently-abled people, while 11 are eco-friendly booths, which are created or designed using all eco-friendly items produced within the State. “We have sourced all the items from local producers. Our effort is to reduce carbon footprint,” he said.
Kunal said the required manpower and machinery have been deployed at the polling booths, as per guidelines of the Election Commission of India. Voting machines, EVMs and VVPATs, have been distributed and these machines are being tracked by GPS.
In a bid to ensure transparency and conduct of free and fair elections, webcasting facilities along with data analytics has been introduced.
“We are committed to ensure there is a level-playing field for all candidates. We are also monitoring the preparations by all polling officers,” he said.
At the polling booths elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure that the voters are at ease. “We are ensuring that the polling is accessible to the elderly and persons with disability,” Kunal said. Permanent ramps with hand rails, wheelchairs, accessible toilets, drinking water, Braille ballot guide, is been made available across all polling stations.
The State had recorded 82.56 per cent turnout during 2017 elections. The Congress had that time emerged as single largest party with 17 seats while BJP, who begged 13, managed to form the government with support from regional parties and independents.