* People stood in long queues and voted * It happened quietly without any untoward incidents
Chennai: Voting for the urban local government elections in Tamil Nadu took place peacefully yesterday. Tamil Nadu recorded 61 percent of the vote. Despite the high turnout across the state, the turnout in Chennai was sluggish. In Tamil Nadu, elections were held in a single phase yesterday (19th) for a total of 12,820 ward councilor posts in 21 corporations, 138 municipalities and 489 municipalities, including Chennai. Of these, 218 were selected without contest. No one has petitioned for a place. A total of 57,746 candidates contested for the post of 12,870 ward councilors. Voting began at 7 a.m. yesterday, according to the state election commission.
During the Urban Local Government Elections in Tamil Nadu, voting was conducted electronically at all polling stations. 55,337 control machines and 1 lakh 6 thousand 121 electronic voting machines were used in the local elections. 2 electronic voting machines were used if more than 16 candidates contested in a ward. 1.32 lakh teachers and civil servants were involved in the election process. 4 civil servants were engaged in work at one polling station. A total of 648 Returning Officers and 1,642 Assistant Returning Officers were deployed. Voting began at 7 a.m. yesterday. Previously, sample voting was held at each polling station. Accordingly, at 6 am yesterday, in the presence of the election agents of all the candidates, the polling officials conducted a sample ballot. 50 votes were recorded in each electronic voting machine and the test was performed to see if the electronic machine was working properly. Following this, the public was allowed to vote at 7 p.m.
Despite the announcement that polling would take place at 7 am yesterday, the public came to the polling stations from 6 am and waited in long queues to cast their votes. Many stood in line with their families to cast their ballots. The adults, who could not walk to the polls, were picked up by the youth and made to come and vote. Similarly, political party leaders were keen to vote early in the morning. Chief Minister MK Stalin arrived at the polling station at SIET College, Thenampet, Chennai at 9.30 am with his wife Durga Stalin and stood in line to cast their votes. Similarly, AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam cast his vote in Periyakulam, Theni district. Congress state president KS Alagiri, BJP state president Annamalai, Pamaka founder Ramdas, youth wing secretary Anbumani, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Nadu party leader Thirumavalavan, Marxist Communist Party state secretary Balakrishnan, Communist state secretary of India Mutharasan among other leaders, actors and actresses, IAS, IPS officers also voted early in the morning.
One lakh 13 thousand policemen were on security duty to ensure that no untoward incident took place during the urban local government elections across Tamil Nadu and that the public could come to the polls without fear. This includes retired soldiers and Kayts soldiers. Out of a total of 30,745 polling stations, 25,735 polling stations were fitted with CCTV cameras and monitored. 5 thousand polling stations were monitored by webcam. There were 5,920 tense polling stations in Tamil Nadu. Polling was held from 7 am to 6 pm yesterday. From 5pm to 6pm only those with Govt symptoms and those affected are allowed to vote. In anticipation of that, election staff also went to work from 5pm to 6pm wearing BP kit attire. Those who came to vote before 5 pm were given tokens and allowed to vote. Voters were advised to wear a face mask. For those who did not wear a mask, the mask was provided at the polling stations.
Voting was held in all districts of Tamil Nadu till 6 pm yesterday except in Chennai. In Chennai alone, the polling was sluggish from morning till evening. As per the final results, a total of 60.70% votes have been registered in Tamil Nadu. The turnout was 74.68 per cent in the municipality, 68.22 per cent in the municipality and 52.22 per cent in the corporation. Dharmapuri district recorded the highest turnout of 80.49 per cent. State Election Commissioner Palanikumar said at least 43.59 per cent of the votes were cast in the Chennai district. For this 30 people were involved in this work.
About 2.83 crore people are eligible to vote in this election. From yesterday morning till the end of the evening polling was held in a very peaceful manner without any untoward incidents in any of the polling centers in Tamil Nadu. It was immediately fixed or changed and re-voting continued in those centers. ”
There is no restriction in the matter of dress
An Islamic woman in a hijab came to the polls at a polling station in Madurai. The BJP booth agent who was there at the time came in hijab and objected to the vote. This was condemned by other party agents. The Baja Booth agent was then evicted from there. Speaking to reporters in Chennai yesterday, state election commissioner Palanikumar said, “This is an independent country. The Election Commission has not imposed any restrictions on the dress code. The Madurai Collector has been asked to investigate and report on the incident. ”
Counting of votes on the 22nd
Voting ended at 6pm yesterday and the electronic machine was sealed in the presence of the candidates. Following this, electronic voting machines were taken to the counting centers with gun-toting police security last night and kept in the Strong Room. Inside and outside the room, CCTV cameras were installed in the counting halls. In the centers placed in electronic voting machines, 3 layered gunman police protection has been protected. 268 counting centers have been set up across Tamil Nadu. In these centers, the counting of votes will take place on the 22nd (Tuesday) at 8 am. Lead status will be revealed from 9 p.m.