Bhubaneswar: There will be a ban on opinion polls and exit polls during the polling for the bye-election to Dhamnagar assembly constituency in Odisha.
Briefing the press on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sushil Kumar Lohani said that the ban will be in force from 7 am to 6.30 pm. “News channels are prohibited from broadcasting the results of exit or opinion polls during the period,” he said.
There will also be a ban on the sale of liquor during this period. Canvassing for votes within a distance of one hundred meters of polling booth is prohibited. Violators can be arrested under Section 130 of the Representation of the People Act, he said.
Lohani said that 5 cases have been registered with police in connection with poll code violations. In one case, a senior official has been transferred to ECI, he added.
The CEO further said that all polling parties and EMVs have been dispatched and all election material and security arrangements are in place. “A total of 1,008 polling officers have been deployed on a randomised basis with four per booth. Checking is being conducted on community hall, hotel and Dharamshala and on vehicular movement,” he said.
Lohani said that there are 252 booths in the constituency and most of these are in school buildings. The name of the booth has been changed according to the change in the name of the school, but the location remains the same.
There are 2,38,417 voters in the constituency, among them, 1,23,038 are male, 1,15346 female and 33 are transgender.
The CEO said that besides EPIC, the voters can carry 12 other documents for exercising their franchise. There are 15 model booths and five pink booths, which will have women security personnel and polling parties. Pick-up and drop arrangements have been made for Dibyang voters, he said, adding that there will ramp and separate queue and volunteers with wheelchairs for them.
He said 110 have been declared sensitive and special arrangements have been made for them. To ensure tight vigil, there will be webcasting in 126 booths.
As many as 1,000 police personnel and four companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed to maintain law and order, he added.
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