It's not just more women who will be going to vote this time, more women than men are also on poll duty in the state. Of the 3.29 lakh polling officials, more than 1.97 lakh are women, and 1.32 lakh are men. In many constituencies, returning officers as well as assistant returning officers are women. In Chennai, polling in 10 of the 16 constituencies is being handled by women.
"I was appointed returning officer (RO) before the candidate names were announced. I am a joint director in the Adi Dravida department," said R K Nagar returning officer T N Padmaja Devi. During the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Padmaja served as returning officer for Arni constituency. "Cadres from all parties are meeting or calling me but there is nothing to worry about so far," she said of the VIP constituency from which chief minister J Jayalalithaa is contesting.
In Mylapore, both the ROs and assistant RO are women. While S Amirtha Jothi is the RO and A Parimala Devi is the assistant.
In Chennai, 10,430 women are involved in elections against 9,521 men. In Kancheepuram, there are 13,376 women officials against 6,377 men. Of 32 districts in TN, only in Nagapattinam there are more male officials.
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