Arrangements in place for peaceful polls: Mizoram CEO

Aizawl: Mizoram chief election officer (CEO) Ashish Kundra on Monday announced that poll preparation in the state has been in a state of readiness and said that all arrangements have been made for a fair and peaceful election.

Speaking about the arrangements for Bru refugee voters, the CEO said that he visited Kahnmun village where locals have extended their support for the refugees to vote. “We have 15 polling stations for Brus. They will travel from Tripura up to 500 metres from the place and will head to their respective polling booths at Kahnmun village,” Kundra said. Giving details about the transit plan of Brus, the CEO said that the election body has prepared a detailed plan with the Tripura CEO and three other officers.

Kundra, who was appointed as the state CEO after massive protests from Mizo civil society organisations forced the removal of his predecessor SB Shashank, said election preparedness in the state have been reviewed after consultation with district administration and district poll bodies.

The CEO further said, “Personnel who will be conducting the polls have been trained and they are ready for the job.”

For the postal ballots, the CEO said electronically transferred ballots are being used for the first time in Mizoram and more than 13,451 postal ballots have been issued.

Special arrangements for electorates, including the differently-abled voters, have been made with the setting up of ramps, water sources and toilets, among others. “There are 3,915 differently-abled voters and special arrangements have been made for them,” he added.

In Mizoram, as per the Election Commission directive, every constituency will have one all-women polling booth.

Meanwhile, campaigning in the state ended at 4 pm on Monday.

The single-phase polls for the 40 assembly seats in Mizoram will be held on November 28. About 7.7 lakh electorates will decide the fate of 209 candidates. Of the total candidates, 3.75 lakh are male and 3.94 lakh are women.