Government representatives were seen carrying voting machines on their heads in the Namakkal District of Tamil Nadu

With today marking the commencement of the Lok-Sabha elections, preparations are already underway. Malai Grama in Tamil Nadu’s Namakkal district saw the election preparations yesterday. Voting machines were seen being carried by the officials on their heads. There are hills in the Namakkal district, that are around 1100 meters above sea level. Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) devices, control units, and electronic voting machines (EVMs) were sent to polling places around the district yesterday. There were reportedly no appropriate roads, so the EVMs had to be hauled around seven kilometers on foot. It is well known that for the last 50 years, locals, police officers, and government representatives have been carrying voting machines on foot.

The district created around 1628 voting places spread across six seats, of which about 174 were designated as sensitive polling places. It was observed that the Election Commission was doing all it could to guarantee a secure and free election. In order to guarantee this, some 1060 closed-circuit television systems (CCTVs) were set up, and 2786 security personnel—including police officers and central forces—were sent out. The Namakkal district will see almost 14.52 lakh voters cast ballots today, including 7.08 lakh men, 7.44 lakh women, and 158 voters who identify as third genders.

Despite extra attempts to deliver the necessary election materials to Bodhamalai in the Rasipuram assembly seat of Namakkal district, officials were seen trekking across hills for almost seven miles while carrying the EVMs, VVPATs, and control units on their heads. It is anticipated that 1142 voters from Keezhur, Melur, and Kodamalai would use this booth to cast their ballots.

The biggest phased election ever conducted in India is expected to be the Lok- Sabha elections, which got underway on Friday. With an estimated 96.88 million voters expected to participate, this election will be the biggest in history. During the course of six weeks, there will be seven stages to the election.