PANAJI
Goans, all of 11.73 lakh of them, will get a shot at democracy on May 7, when they get to vote and pick the State's two Lok Sabha members of Parliament which will decide who gets to rule the country for the next five years.
The Election Commission of India which announced the Lok Sabha election schedule on Saturday afternoon, listed Goa among those States and Union Territories which will go to polls in the third phase on May 7.
While the last date for filing nominations is April 19, scrutiny of nominations will be done on April 20 and the date for withdrawal is April 22. Counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.
With the poll announcement, the Model Code of Conduct has also come into effect.
Meanwhile the process of enrolling oneself as a voter is ongoing but as of Saturday, Goa's Chief Electoral Officer, Ramesh Verma, IAS said, voter count in the as of Saturday stood at 11,73,028 and a little over two per cent of these are new, first time voters.
Also, women voters outnumber men in Goa by women-to-men ratio of 1063, Verma said, adding that the Mormugao (South Goa) seat has a marginally higher voter strength than Panaji (North Goa) by around 15,000. The South Goa seat has 5.95 lakh listed on the electoral rolls as against the 5.8 lakh in North Goa.
VOTE FROM HOME
The facility of letting senior citizens to vote from the comfort of their homes introduced over the last couple of elections will continue, Verma said, adding that as many as 11,640 voters who are upwards of 85 years of age, will be permitted the facility.
Additionally 9,372 voters who have 40% and above disability and are registered as PwD voters will also be provided the 'voting from home' facility.
APP FOR DATA
Verma said, CEO Goa will be using the Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) Mobile App to digitize data for intercepted and seized items (cash/liquor/drugs/ precious metal/freebies/other items) direct from field through Mobile App during the duration that the Model Code Conduct is in force.
POLLING STATIONS
Verma said, there will be 1725 polling stations (booths) for the parliamentary elections which is a little over than 100 booths more than what existed five years ago in 2019.
Of these, the North Goa seat will have 863 polling stations and the South Goa seat one booth less at 862 although the seat has a longer electoral roll.
Also there will be 218 booths which will be either green or those managed in toto by either women, youth or PwD election officials.
NEW INIATIAIVES
In Goa, the election commission has unveiled new initiatives – Green Highway Concept, Planting of sapling by poll officials and a medical camp – on the day of voting.
In the Green Highway Concept, a medicinal or fruit bearing sapling will be planted by every voter after he/she casts the vote. This will be done at
select polling stations along highways.
Poll officials will also plant 5 saplings – fruit bearing or plants – at every polling station with a message to the voters for greener environment and to create awareness towards love for nature. This drive will be held by the polling team immediately after setting up the polling booth.
A medical camp has also been planned at 8 identified model polling station in urban areas having high percentage of senior citizen voters.
