Selfie booths in apartments to boost voter turnout: ZP CEO

Mangaluru: The Dakshina Kannada Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) Committee, led by ZP CEO Anandh K, has decided to set up selfie booths in apartments to encourage voter turnout in urban areas. With the support of the resident welfare associations, people will be encouraged to use the voter helpline app to check the polling stations and other details, he told reporters on Wednesday.The district has identified 72 polling stations with low voter turnout during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, the district’s average polling percentage was 78%, and the state average was 68%. About 57 polling stations had 20% less voter turnout when compared to the state average. Hence, a plan has been chalked out targeting vulnerable sections. The focus will be on the urban areas of Mangaluru City South, Mangaluru City North, and Mangaluru assembly constituencies, he said.Meanwhile, Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Mullai Muhilan MP said that the notification of election in Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency will be issued on Thursday, and the filing of nominations will be held between 11 am and 3 pm till April 4. Only five persons, including the candidate, will be allowed to enter the returning officer’s chamber to submit the nominations. A facilitation centre will be opened at the DC’s office. The expenditure of the candidate will be counted from the day the candidate files the nomination. The DC said that the district is not an expenditure-sensitive constituency. Assistant expenditure observers and expenditure observers will monitor the expenditure of the candidates. An expenditure book will be provided to the candidate to record expenditure incurred, he explained.Further, he said that no election materials can be printed without the name and address of the publishers, and the number of copies printed. Separate permission should be availed for procession prior to the submission of nomination papers from the ARO office, through the single-window system.‘Ensure no MCC violation’The DC said that private events such as marriages, birthdays, housewarming ceremonies, and other non-political programmes do not require any permission. However, one should ensure that there is no violation of the model code of conduct (MCC) at these functions. Permission is needed if the events are attended by politicians or candidates. These gatherings will be under the surveillance of MCC teams, as there are chances of luring voters by campaigning and supplying food, said the DC. The district has 38,386 new voters, of which, 19,619 are men.