“2.71 crore voters set to cast their ballots in Uttar Pradesh’s fifth phase tomorrow.”

Lucknow, May 19 : In the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha General Elections 2024, voting for 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh will be held, in addition to the by-election on the Lucknow East assembly seat on Monday, May 20. An evening before this crucial voting phase, Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Electoral Officer, Shri Navdeep Rinwa, urged every eligible voter to exercise their democratic right. 

Voting will be conducted in the Lok Sabha constituencies of Mohanlalganj (SC), Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Amethi, Jalaun (SC), Jhansi, Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi (SC), Barabanki (SC), Faizabad, Kaiserganj, and Gonda, as well as the Lucknow East Assembly constituency. Shri Rinwa assured that all preparations have been made to ensure free and fair elections. 

Polling will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and voters in line at 6:00 p.m. will be allowed to cast their ballots. State Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said, “There are a total of 2 crores 71 lakhs 36 thousand 363 voters in the fifth phase, out of which one crore 44 lakhs 5 thousand 97 are men, one crore 27 lakh 30 thousand 186 are women, and 1,080 are third gender voters.”

He added, “Regarding voters in the fifth phase, the highest number of voters are in Mohanlalganj, and the least number of voters are in Banda Lok Sabha constituency. One hundred forty-four candidates are in the fray in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies, of which 131 are male and 13 are female. In the fifth phase, the maximum number of 15 candidates are in the Fatehpur Lok Sabha constituency, and the least number of 4 candidates are in the Kaiserganj Lok Sabha constituency.” 

There are 28,688 polling booths in the fifth phase of elections, of which 4,232 are critical. There are 17,128 polling stations. Live webcasting has been arranged at 50 percent of polling places (14984 polling places), supervised at all three levels by the District Election Officer, Chief Electoral Officer, and Election Commission of India. Apart from this, arrangements for videography have also been made at 4,199 polling places. In the fifth phase, 561 model polling stations and 126 women, 53 disabled, and 80 youth personnel-managed polling stations were created. 35,684 EVM control units, 36,089 ballot units, and 37,565 VVPATs have been prepared for voting in the elections.

To keep a vigilant eye on the voting, the Commission has also deployed 03 special observers, 14 general observers, 09 police observers, and 15 expenditure observers. Also, 2416 Sector Magistrates, 327 Zonal Magistrates, 549 Static Magistrates, and 3619 Micro Observers. Seven thousand four hundred twenty-six heavy vehicles, 7410 light vehicles, and 1,28,642 polling personnel have been deployed to conduct the election process. 

A sufficient number of paramilitary forces have been deployed to conduct the elections peacefully. The security of the strong room has also been given to paramilitary forces. Arrangements have also been made for paramilitary forces/police forces to provide air ambulances and helicopters for medical assistance in an emergency. The helicopter will be stationed in Jhansi on the 19th and 20th of May, and the air ambulance will be in Lucknow on the 20th of May.

Voter Information Slips have been distributed to the voters by the Election Commission of India through the District Election Officer, through which they can know about their current polling place and serial number. In the fifth phase, voter slips have been distributed to 2 crore 65 lakh 90 thousand 01 voters. Apart from this, voters can also get information about their polling place through the Voter Helpline App and the website of the Election Commission of India.

A voter guide has also been distributed for voters’ convenience. Voter guides have been distributed to 49 lakh 426 families in the districts of the fifth phase. A total of 20 lakh 56 thousand 664 voter photo identity cards have been distributed in the districts of the fifth phase from October 27, 2023, to May 19, 2024. During the voting period, all BLOs will be present at the voter assistance booth with the alphabetical locator voter list and will assist the coming voters. For disabled voters, arrangements have been made for wheelchairs and volunteers at various polling stations, who will be available to assist the disabled voters. 

As per the instructions of the Election Commission of India, in addition to the voter photo identity card, 12 other photo identity cards (Aadhaar card, MGNREGA job card, passbook with photo issued by banks/post offices, health insurance smart card issued under the scheme of the Ministry of Labor, Driving license, PAN card, smart card issued by RGI under NPR, Indian passport, pension document with photo, service identity card with photo issued by Central / State Government / PSU / Public Limited Companies to their employees, MPs / MLAs / Legislative Council members. Government Identity Card and Unique Disability ID (UDID) card issued by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, will be valid for identification of voters at the polling place.

Any voting-related complaint can be lodged by calling the toll-free number 1800-180-1950 at the state level and 1950 at the district level. Apart from this, complaints can also be lodged on C-VIGIL, NGSP/VHA. In the fifth phase, 1439 complaints were registered on C-Vigil from March 16, 2024, to May 19, 2024. Of these, 924 complaints were found to be valid, and 515 false. Out of 924 valid complaints, 850 have been resolved within the stipulated time of 100 minutes. The average time for disposal of complaints is 48.01 minutes, less than the specified period of 100 minutes. In the fifth phase, liquor, cash and drugs worth Rs 47 crore were seized from March 16, 2024, to May 19, 2024.