Bengaluru (IANS): Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Meena on Wednesday stated that a provision has been made to add names to the voters’ list till April 11. There will be separate polling booths for Covid affected people and Covid guidelines will be followed strictly.

Meena disclosed that “three lakh staff are being roped in to conduct the elections and necessary training has been given in this regard.”

New EVMs and VVPATs have arrived from Hyderabad and they are being used for the first time in Karnataka. Some 89,000 VVPATs will be used in the elections, Meena stated.

Specially abled persons can vote from their residences, they will be given permission under Form 12. This time 3,021 NRIs names have been added to the voters’ list. From Wednesday the model code of conduct kicks in. The politicians will not be able to conduct meetings, sign new projects or implement new programmes.

There are 58,282 polling booths in the state. A separate system has been created for persons above 80 years of age and specially abled persons. EVM ballot papers will contain the photo of the candidates, Meena said.

There are 1,834 sex workers in the state and they have also been included in the voters’ list. Bengaluru South is the biggest constituency with 6.91 lakh voters. Sringeri is the constituency with the least voters. Belagavi will have the most number of polling booths, he said.

There is a provision to cast votes from home and the voters will have to submit applications under 12-D. The notification will be issued by April 12 and applications will have to be submitted before that. The team will inspect the eligibility and then voting rights will be given, Meena stated.