Newskarnataka – Mangalore
By Sandhya S
Mangalore: “The number of young voters and women voters enrolled for the up-coming elections is least in the country as well as in the district. The registration rate of young voters is less than 1 percent of the current population”, said DC A B Ibrahim during a press meet at his office on Saturday March 8.
With the objective of registering as many voters as possible the government has organized a week long campaign on Sunday March 9, which will continue till March 16, wherein people who are not registered as a voter can register themselves by filling the form 6 / 7 / 8, as applicable. SVEEP programme would be held to encourage people to vote and create awareness.
He stated that the notification of election will be issued on March 19; the nominations will be accepted from March 19 to March 26. The nominations will be verified on March 27 whereas the last date for withdrawal of applications will be March 29. The elections will be held on April 17 in the district and the counting process will be held on May 16. The election process will conclude on May 26.
Compared to the previous elections, along with the voters’ registration campaign, the Electoral Commission has also increased campaign budget of the candidates up to Rs 70 lakh. With the code of conduct enforced since March 5, security measures have been taken. A Media Certification and Monitoring Committee has been set up to monitor any paid news, which will be head by the returning officer, Asst returning officer, Station director, DNA Bureau chief and district information officer. Other NIC department officials will also monitor social networking websites to monitor the ads on the portals.
Security: With regards to security, the Deputy Commissioner stated that five teams including 24 flying squads, 24 static surveillance, 8 video viewing, 125 sector officer and 24 video surveillance teams have been formed to keep a vigil on political activities Other acts as per the model of conduct will also be scrutinized by the police department.
Arms and Ammunition: The DC informed that there are around 14000 arms in the district out of which 3000 small arms and revolvers and 11000 major weapons must be submitted to the arms dealers or the nearest police stations.
The press meet was held after the DC met the political leaders of the district, he also elaborated them over the process of election. The electoral commission officers, Mangalore Commissionerate officers, Police officials Tahsildars and others were present for the meeting.
