Exclusive polling station at apartment complex in Madurai

Madurai: In a first for Madurai, a polling station has been added at Shanti Sadan housing colony in Kochadai for the convenience of the residents of the colony.An official from the district collector's office said that the move was done in order to make voting more convenient for residents living in apartments and housing colonies. "We noticed that not many people from these places would vote, so this move was taken," he said, adding that for future elections more such stations can be added to apartment complexes.Bhaskar, treasurer of Shanti Sadan welfare association, welcomed the decision. "Most of the residents of the housing colony are senior citizens and they find it difficult to travel to a polling station, even though they have a strong desire to vote. The addition of a polling station within places like this will certainly bring up the voting participation percentage," he said.In addition to the polling centre in Shanti Sadan, Madurai also has around 20 cluster polling centres with 10 or more polling centres on the same campus. Each polling centre in the cluster polling centre has been assigned a specific colour, and colour-coded maps have been pasted on signboards as well as painted on the ground with arrows pointing to the polling centre for the convenience of the voting public.