Bengaluru, Mar 11, 2023, IANS

Bengaluru, March 11 (IANS) Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Saturday that the term of fifteenth legislature in Karnataka will end on May 24.

"There are 5,21,73,599 voters in Karnataka. I have discussed with all party representatives, election officers and BBMP staff in connection with poll preparation," he said.

Addressing a press conference Kumar said that he had discussed with the representatives for three days on holding elections transparently.

Chief Election Commissioner expressed his displeasure over low rate of voter
turnout especially in Bengaluru in 2018 general assembly elections. Bengaluru has emerged as the IT hub and despite this, lower percentage of voting is disheartening, he said. The voter's turnout in urban areas has come down, he stressed.

He maintained that he is confident of the completion of the election process peacefully in Karnataka. The voters should not get into traps of money and other things, he advised.

A total of 9,17,241 new voters will exercise their rights for the first time in upcoming elections.

People who are 80 years and above besides the specially-abled will have a facility to cast their vote from their residences.

For the polling, 58,282 polling stations would be set up across Karnataka. One polling station would be established for 883 voters. As many as 24,063 poll stations at urban areas and 34,219 poll stations at rural areas will be set up, he stated.

There are 2,62,42,561 male voters and 2,59,26,319 female voters in the state. A total of 1,320 polling stations would be monitored entirely by the women staff, he said.

Of the total, 43,312 voters belong to the third gender. Among the 224 Assembly constituencies 36 are reserved for SC and 15 for ST candidates. A total of 173 are general constituencies, he stated.