Lucknow, 30th December 2021: Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh (UP) will be held on time. All political parties will conduct elections scheduled by following the COVID protocol.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra, who came to the capital Lucknow to review the preparations for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, said that elections will be held in UP at the right time.

In a press conference, Chandra said, “the final voter list will come on January 5. If any complaint regarding the final publication of the voter list comes after January 5, it will also be disposed of immediately.”

He added, “people above 80 years of age, persons with disabilities and people infected with corona who are unable to come to the polling station, the Election Commission will reach their doorsteps to help them vote.”

He said that till now the total number of voters in Uttar Pradesh is more than 15 crores. The actual voter figures will come after the final publication.

Even after the last publication, if someone’s name does not come, then they can claim. So far 52.8 lakh new voters have been included. Of these, there are 23.92 lakh male voters and 28.86 lakh female voters. There are 19.89 lakh voters in the age group of 18-19 years.

Chandra said, “We had a meeting with political parties. There is a demand of political parties that elections should be held on time. Some parties have also expressed concern over the hate speech in the rallies and the crowd in the rallies. An adequate number of women booth workers have also been demanded at the polling booths.”

“In the 2017 UP assembly elections, 61 percent voter turnout was recorded. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the voter turnout in UP was 59 percent. It is a matter of concern as to why the polling percentage is low in a state where political awareness is high among the people. We endeavour to increase the voting percentage in the upcoming assembly elections”, Chandra said.

He said that the employees posted at the polling stations across the state would be fully vaccinated. VVPATs will be installed at all polling stations. To ensure transparency in the election process, the facility of live webcasting will be available at about one lakh polling stations. Votes will be cast during the assembly elections from 8 am to 6 pm on the date of polling.