T’puram: The KPCC has expressed strong opposition to the state Election Commission‘s decision not to accept any of the requests put forward by the Congress to facilitate the voting process in the local self-govt elections scheduled to take place in the state this year. The EC decided to increase the number of wards but reduce the number of polling booths. The Congress demanded in a meeting of political parties convened by the EC that elections to local bodies be conducted transparently and smoothly, with a maximum of 1,100 voters per polling station in panchayats and 1,300 in municipalities. However, the commission set the number of voters per polling station at 1,300 in panchayats and 1,600 in municipalities. Instead of increasing the number of polling booths, 4,000 booths were cut. This decision was seen as deliberately undermining voters rather than assisting them, allegedly due to pressure from the ruling party, the KPCC alleged.This action by the commission comes at a time when voters in panchayats have to cast three votes for village, block, and district panchayats. It was argued that this decision denies people’s democratic voting rights. The commission’s actions will create long queues at polling booths, potentially leading to many not voting. The KPCC meeting criticised the EC for not taking any steps to facilitate the voting process, which they found suspicious. The Congress requested that those listed in the central Election Commission’s voter list be automatically included in the panchayat’s voter list without a hearing. They also sought an opportunity to verify whether those in the draft voters list of reorganised wards were within the limits and whether eligible voters were included. However, the commission did not consider these requests.The Congress also demanded that equal population be ensured in the wards of local bodies and that unauthorised houses be included in population calculations, while excluding unoccupied houses and flats from population determination. The KPCC meeting criticised the commission for acting unilaterally without considering these demands.
