Bengaluru
With campaigning in the 14 constituencies that go to the polls on May 7 ending on Sunday evening, the Election Commission has made all arrangements to ensure that the soaring temperatures in these constituencies do not affect polling.
A total of 2,59,52,958 electors, including 35,465 service voters, will seal the fate of 227 candidates in these constituencies.
Manoj Kumar Meena, Chief Electoral Officer for Karnataka, said the top priority was ensuring that the heatwave conditions do not deter people from coming out to vote. “All measures are being put in place to address the potential challenges posed by the heatwave. Our priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of electors, especially senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PwD), as well as election personnel in the polling stations. Polling stations are equipped with adequate shade structures, such as tents and umbrellas, and chairs to protect voters from direct sunlight,” he said.
Polling in 14 LS constituencies on May 7
Total electors in 14 constituencies: 2,59,52,958
Male electors: 1,29,48,978
Female electors: 1,29,66,570
Third-gender electors: 1,945
Service voters: 35,465
Young electors: 6,90,929
Electors aged above 85: 2,29,263
PwD electors: 3,43,966
Polling stations:28,269
While adjacent rooms of the polling booth will be used as waiting rooms, shamiyanas (tents) with fans and sitting arrangements will be made wherever required. Special medical kits to manage dehydration and sunstroke will be made available. Besides, paramedics and trained ASHAs will be deployed in the polling stations in coordination with the Health Department. Emergency ambulances in the districts will be made available wherever required and one ambulance will be mapped to every 10-15 polling booths, Mr. Meena said.
Electors
Of the 2,59,52,958 electors in these 14 constituencies, over 1.29 crore are women and 1,945 belong to the third gender. These constituencies have nearly 6.91 lakh young electors (aged 18-19), 2.29 lakh electors aged above 85, and 3.44 lakh PwD electors. While the Kalaburagi parliamentary constituency has the highest number of electors at 20.98 lakh, Uttara Kannada has the lowest at 16.41 lakh.
A total of 28,269 polling booths, including 12 auxiliary booths, have been set up. Of these, 19,636 booths are in rural areas.
Gender and EP ratio
There has been a constant improvement in the gender ratio in Karnataka from 958 (per 1,000 males) in the 2013 Assembly elections to 999.5 this year. While it was 1,000 in the 14 constituencies that went to the polls on April 26, it is 1,002 in the constituencies where polling will be held on May 7.
It was 960 in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, 963 in 2015 final rolls, 972 in the 2018 Assembly elections, 976 in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and 986 in the 2023 Assembly elections.
This time, the elector-population (EP) ratio of Karnataka (as per the final roll 2024) is 69.74%, which means of the total projected population (7.71 crore), 69.74% are electors. While the EP ratio in the constituencies that went to the polls on April 26 was 70.25%, it is 71.8% in the constituencies where polling will be held on May 7, Mr. Meena added.
