Pondicherry: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Pondicherry S. Kumaraswamy said here on Tuesday that the final voter strength of Pondicherry as on April 20 has increased to 6,59,422 and the increase was by nearly 10,000 voters.

Addressing presspersons, Mr. Kumaraswamy said Lawspet constituency was having the highest number of voters (51,708). Raj Bhavan has the minimum of 5,119 voters and this is the smallest constituency here.

Cases registered

Mr. Kumaraswamy said as many as 24 cases relating to various incidents had so far been registered including six cases relating to law and order. When compared to the cases registered during the Lok Sabha polls, the number of cases had trebled now. He said that nine companies of paramilitary forces had been sought and already two companies sent each to Yanam, Mahe and Pondicherry regions while one company had been deployed to Karaikal.

District Election officer G. Theva Needhi Dhas, who was also present, said a new system of providing information to voters over phone about the location of booths had been introduced. Helpline facilities would be available from Wednesday and phone numbers (in respect of Pondicherry) are: 2240223, 2240225, 2240229, 2240230, 2240233, 2240234 or 2240239.

Mr. Kumarasamy said special arrangements would be made to enable voters displaced by tsunami and residing in far off places to reach the polling booths.

He said that 115 polling stations were identified as sensitive and they included 90 in Pondicherry and 25 in Karaikal. As many as 710 polling booths were established. The election authorities had also designated certain officers as Mobile Magistrates to monitor election process on polling dates. A total of 3,743 polling personnel were being deployed and they included presiding officers and polling officers of different stages.

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