SHILLONG: Out of the total 1492 polling stations in the State, 210 have been classified as hypersensitive while 354 have been classified as sensitive.
With 68, East Khasi Hills has the highest number of hypersensitive polling stations followed by 40 in East Jaintia Hills, 36 in Ri Bhoi, 25 in West Jaintia Hills, 19 in Sohra, 15 in South West Khasi Hills and seven in West Khasi Hills.
“The number of the hypersensitive and sensitive polling stations is likely to change when the elections draw closer,” Commissioner and Secretary in charge of District Council Affairs department Jopthiaw Lyngdoh told newsmen here on Thursday adding that the classification of the polling stations is based on various factors like history of violence and cases of booth capturing in the past.
Informing that the police department has already assessed the availability of force after weighing all aspects Lyngdoh said, “We can manage the district council elections with the available force including the home guards.”
He also said that for the elections to the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), 29 returning officers and 25 assistant returning officers have been appointed and 145 officers have been conferred with magisterial powers.
For the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC), nine returning officers with an equal number of assistants were assigned and 13 officers have been given magisterial powers for maintaining law and order.
A total of 6, 68,398 voters will elect their members to the KHADC while 2, 09,217 will vote in the JHADC polls. The elections are slated for February 24.
Lyngdoh further informed that the constituency with the highest number of voters is Mawlai with 36,885 voters and Laban-Mawprem has the lowest number of voters with 10768. In Jaintia Hills, Rymbai-Khliehriat has the highest number of voters with 11,934 while Saipung has only 4539. 123 candidates will vie for a seat in the KHADC while it will be 89 fighting it out for the JHADC.