Hyderabad: In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, women polling staff will be stationed at every polling station to verify the identity of female voters wearing veils.
This measure is part of the standard operating procedure issued by the Election Commission of India for the elections, as highlighted by Hyderabad District Election Officer and Commissioner of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), D. Ronald Rose, during a media briefing on Tuesday.
Ronald Rose explained that if veiled women decline to reveal their faces to male officials at the polling station, a separate enclosure will be provided within the premises where their identity can be verified by female polling staff. This step addresses concerns raised about veiled women being used for electoral malpractice in previous elections.
The election machinery in the district is fully prepared for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the by-election for the Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly constituency. In Hyderabad parliamentary constituency, 30 candidates are contesting, while there are 45 candidates for Secunderabad and 15 for the Secunderabad Cantonment constituency.
A total of 45,91,201 voters are expected to cast their votes on May 13 across 3,986 polling stations, facilitated by 12,521 ballot units. So far, 9,266 out of 16,776 postal ballot voters have already cast their votes. The distribution of voter information slips is 81% completed and is expected to surpass 95%.
