Karnataka: Special polling booths set to mark diversity among voters in Dakshina Kannada

MANGALURU: Dance of Democracy that will be played out across 1,861 polling booths in Dakshina Kannada(DK) district on April 18 will see 17,24,460 voters queue up to vote in four different types of booths. While voters in 1,833 booths would exercise their franchise in regular booths, voters in 28 booths will do so either in 20 Sakhi polling stations, five ethnic style polling stations in tribal areas and rest in polling station manned by persons with disabilities.
Special arrangements at these 28 select booths are to give the festival of democracy a distinct feel, said noted district election officer Sasikanth Senthil S. The Election Commission is keen to ensure that all sections of society participate in this festival and make it an inclusive process so that no voter is left behind, he said. The Sakhi, ethnic and polling stations manned by persons with disabilities is to celebrate the diversity among voters, he said.
Incidentally, Sakhi polling stations are the ‘Pink Polling’ stations of 2018 assembly elections and will be manned by all-women polling officials. These are located at polling stations 109 in Belthangady; 177 of Moodbidri; 6, 39, 61, 70 and 98 of Mangaluru City North; 11, 112, 130, 133 and 143 of Mangaluru City South; 33, 117,146, 148 and 159 of Mangaluru; 61 of Bantwal, 91 of Puttur and 90 of Sullia assembly constituencies respectively.
The ethnic polling stations are located in polling station 163 of Belthangady, 7 of Mangaluru City North, 246 of Bantwal, 106 of Puttur and 209 of Sullia assembly constituencies respectively. Persons with disabilities will man polling station 236 in Belthangady, 50 in Mangaluru and 32 in Puttur assembly constituencies respectively. Departments concerned have made arrangements to reflect the spirit of these booths, DC said.
With respect to booths that person with disabilities are set to man, Senthil said care has been taken to ensure that such polling officers face least minimum inconvenience. The Election Commission has general guidelines that more or less exempts such persons from poll duties, Senthil said, adding the idea in setting up exclusive booths manned by them is to send out a message that even the differently abled are very much part of social mainstream.