Water coolers, fans to help voters beat the heat in Punjab on poll day

Chandigarh : All polling stations in Punjab will have water coolers, fans and sheds to provide relief to voters from the heat, said Punjab’s chief electoral officer (CEO) Sibin C, adding that chairs will be provided if more than 10 people are in the voting queue.
Polling for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held in the last phase of the seven-phase general elections on June 1, when the state is in the grip of severe heat wave. The CEO also said that voters exercising their franchise will be offered sweetened water (chabeel) at polling stations to provide relief from the scorching heat.
During a first-of-its-kind Facebook live session, ‘Talk to your CEO Punjab’, with voters of Punjab of Friday, Sibin addressed their queries and also urged them to actively participate in voting to achieve the goal of ‘Iss Vaar 70 Paar’, while also appealing them to report any violation of model code of conduct to the commission.
He said a target has been set to achieve a voter turnout of more than 70%, as Punjab’s voting percentage during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was 65.96%. He also said that young voters can apply with the election commission to make their vote until May 4, 2024.
The CEO said over 1,600 complaints of model code of conduct violations have been received by his office so far and all have been settled. Similarly, the commission received 1,059 complaints on the C-vigil app, of which 733 have been verified, and 689 were settled within 100 minutes, as per the directions of the Election Commission of India. He appealed to people to report violations through the C-vigil app, the 1950 toll-free number and the national grievance service portal (NGSP) of the commission.
Regarding a query about depositing weapons, Sibin said that it is not compulsory for everyone, and people can get exemption after informing the deputy commissioner of their district about their reason for keeping the weapon, as a committee has already been constituted in each district to review such cases.
In response to a query regarding online voting, the Sibin said such a facility has not yet been offered by the Election Commission of India. “There are 1,600 registered NRI voters who will have to visit their respective polling stations to cast their votes. Those without voter cards can use 12 alternative documents, including the Aadhar card, PAN card, driving licence, MGNREGA job card, for voting,” he added.
On security arrangements, the Sibin said special attention is being paid to border areas and identified sensitive polling stations in the state. He said apart from Punjab Police, 25 companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in Punjab and additional deployment will be made as per the requirement.