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Karnataka Today newsletter: Fourteen constituencies set to vote in Phase 2 polling in State, and more

Following a month-long political activity that witnessed high-decibel, mega-stakes campaigns by major political parties, a total of 2,88,19,342 crore eligible electors from 14 constituencies will vote in Karnataka in the second phase of the 18th Lok Sabha elections tomorrow, April 26. The State is voting in two phases, and 14 more constituencies from the northern half of the State will vote in the third phase, scheduled on May 7.

The Election Commission of India has made elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct of polls. Apart from conducting electoral awareness to deal with urban apathy and increase voter turnout, the EC has initiated measures to ensure that the extreme heatwave conditions do not affect voter turnout, especially among senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PwD).

To help voters navigate their way to the polling station, the Election Commission has also come out with the ‘Chunavana’ mobile app, which will offer users polling booth location, navigation to the polling booth, candidate information, polling officers’ details, the queue at the polling station on a real-time basis, available parking space  and nearby emergency facilities.

Find more information about your polling stations at https://electoralsearch.eci.gov.in. Read our in-depth coverage on the constituencies, candidates as well as election-related issues, and make an informed decision before casting your vote. See you at the polls!

To ensure people do not face any hassle in locating their polling booths in locations where more than three booths are clustered, the Election Commission has set up voter facilitation counters to assist people. These counters will be like a help desk for people to locate their booth in the cluster.

In entire Karnataka, 3,415 locations have multiple polling booths. Of the 14 constituencies where polling will be held on Friday April 26, as many as 2,089 locations have more than three polling booths.

For the nearly 40,000 tribals in Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency, elections provide a once-in-a-five-year opportunity to make themselves heard by the political parties in Karnataka. But as on the eve of the first phase of polling in Karnataka, neither the BJP nor the Congress has bothered to address their grievances, including implementation of the Forest Rights Act.