Karnataka State Assembly Polls 2023: State in full swing for upcoming elections, EC begins prep

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Karnataka is scheduled to have its State Assembly Elections in May this year. The term of the 224-member Karnataka Assembly is set to end on May 24. Of the 224 constituencies, 36 are seats reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) and 15 for Scheduled Tribes (ST).

The state has total of 5.21 crore voters. This number includes 2.59 women; 16,976 centenarians; 4,699 third gender; and 9.17 lakh first time voters. Karnataka has close to 17,000 voters above the age of 100; and has also seen an increase in young voters. There are 12.15 lakh voters above the age of 80 and 5.55 lakh people with disabilities (PWD).

Ahead of the all-important polls, we take a look at the status of preparations so far.

Election Commission reviews status

Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and other Election Commission (EC) officials including Arun Goel and Anup Chandra Pandey were in the state on March 10 for a three-day visit to review status of the Karnataka assembly polls.

The team landed in Bengaluru and held a meeting with State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Meena and other executives. They also interacted with various political parties for complaints, opinions and suggestions regarding the election prep. A meeting with deputy commissioners of all districts was also held regarding security preparations for the upcoming polls.

For voters, LED vehicles to drive voter awareness and an exhibition on elections was inaugurated.

EC facilities for elections

— For the first time, ECI will allow people above 80 years of age to avail the ‘Voting From Home’ (VFH) facility.

— CEO Rajiv Kumar said ECI officials will go with form-12D to enable senior voters to exercise their franchise.

— Further, for people with disabilities, mobile app ‘Saksham’ can be used to choose the facility to vote, the CEC said.

— The ECI has launched a ‘Know-Your-Candidate’ (KYC) where political parties have to explain to voters why a particular candidate with criminal history has been given a ticket.

— For candidates, mobile app names ‘Suvidha’ will allow them to file nominations and affidavits online.

Polling preparations & numbers

— The state has 58,272 polling stations, including 24,063 in urban areas. Of these polling stations, 1,320 are women managed, 224 are youth managed and 224 are PWD managed.

— There will be webcasting in 29,141 polling stations, the CEC said adding 1,200 are critical polling stations.

— The average voters in each station is 883.

— Most of the polling stations are in schools and will have water, electricity, toilet and ramps facilities built by the ECI as “permanent gifts to the schools”, Kumar added.