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Chennai: Voting for the Erode East Assembly by-election in Tamil Nadu began at 7 am today at 237 polling stations in the constituency and will continue till 6 pm. District Election Officer and Collector Raja Gopal Sunkara said all arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of polling on Wednesday (February 5, 2025) and urged voters to exercise their democratic rights without any hassle.
Officials said people did not turn up in large numbers at the start of polling due to the cold, but more voters are expected to turn up later in the day.
A total of 46 candidates, including 44 independents, are in the fray, though the fight is between the ruling DMK and actor-politician Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK).
Holiday has been declared
Holiday has been declared in educational institutions, government and private organisations in the constituency to facilitate voting. Additionally, voters of the constituency working in the district and adjoining districts are entitled to a paid holiday on Wednesday. “If any violation is found in granting leave, action will be taken against the concerned establishments,” he said. Tight security arrangements have been made for the election and outsiders have been asked to leave the constituency after the peaceful campaign that ended last evening.
Nine polling stations are sensitive
Raja Gopal Sunkara said polling will be held in a total of 237 booths, of which more than nine booths were identified as sensitive and additional security personnel were deployed. Micro observers will monitor the polling process at these polling stations and cameras have been installed for round-the-clock surveillance.
The Erode constituency has 2,27,546 voters. “Voters can use any one of the 12 types of documents to vote,” Sunkara said. He said necessary facilities have been arranged at all polling stations. The collector said nine sensitive polling stations have been identified and webcasting will be done at all polling stations.
Regarding security arrangements, he said that 1,500 police personnel and three companies of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel were deployed at the booths. So far, a total of 57 election-related complaints have been received, on which necessary action has been taken.
