VI. Polling Stations
According to the provisions of Section 25 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the District Election Officer is required to provide sufficient number of polling stations with the prior approval of the Election Commission of India, for every constituency, the whole or greater part of which lies in his jurisdiction. Normally, a polling station should be provided for a well-defined polling area, covering not more than 1500 electors and when the number of electors exceeds 1500, auxiliary polling stations should be set up. As far as practicable, the auxiliary polling stations shall be located in the same building or in the premises as the original polling station. Auxiliary polling stations shall have the same serial number as that of the original polling station.
There are totally 51,602 polling stations in the State (as in December 2008).
In the reorganization of polling stations taken up (in 2008) following delimitation, the limit on electorate size attached to a Polling Station was taken as 1200 in rural areas and 1350 in urban areas. Besides, the polling station should be located within a reasonable distance of the habitations. The polling area comprised in that Polling Station should be a compact area. No particular section or revenue village or a hamlet or ward should get divided on account of the ceiling limit and attached to different Polling Stations.
For creation of a new Polling Station on account of existing vulnerability like caste domination, communal tension, criminal gangs etc., distance and electorate size criteria is immaterial. Such creation will of course be subject to availability of building to house the Polling Station within the respective polling areas. In such cases, Part number should not be changed and only auxiliary Polling Station created with the same Part number.
Decongestion of Polling Stations located in a building- This problem is there only in urban areas. Creation is considered subject to availability of another building within the polling area. Here the problem of making bandobust arrangements has to be kept in mind.
