Preparations begin in Kottayam for Assembly elections

With the Assembly election scheduled for this year, the Kottayam district administration has initiated comprehensive preparations. As part of these efforts, the first phase of inspection for the voting machines designated for the Assembly elections commenced in the district on Saturday.

The inspection process began at APJ Abdul Kalam Auditorium in Thiruvathukkal, where the voting machines are stored, under the supervision of District Election Officer and Collector Chetan Kumar Meena.

The district has 1,791 polling booths. To ensure readiness, 25% more voting machines – including control and ballot units – and 35% more VVPAT machines are being inspected.

The inspection, which is expected to span approximately 22 days, involves removing the machines from storage, stripping old stickers, ballots, and seals to verify their functionality. Only those voting machines that pass the first phase of inspection will be deployed for the elections.

The inspection is being conducted by officials of the Revenue Department led by nine engineers from Bharat Electronics Limited. Deputy Collector for Elections Sheeba Mathew, First Level Checking (FLC) supervisor G Prashanth, and others were present.