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Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Archana Patnaik has announced that cash and gift items worth a total of ₹1,262 crore have been seized in Tamil Nadu so far during the election period. Addressing reporters in Chennai, she stated that 4.18 lakh postal votes have been recorded across the state to date.

Following 35 days of intense campaigning by political parties, which officially concluded yesterday evening, the Flying Squads constituted by the Election Commission of India conducted continuous inspections. These inspections resulted in the seizure of cash, liquor, and gift items intended for distribution to voters valued at ₹1,262 crore. Of this total, cash alone accounted for ₹543 crore.

TN election: EVM deployment

A total of 1,06,418 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are set to be utilized for the election. The process of dispatching these machines to the 75,064 polling stations established across Tamil Nadu is currently underway.

Security arrangements

To prevent any untoward incidents throughout the state, 1.47 lakh personnel comprising police officers and Central Armed Police Forces have been deployed for security duties. In Chennai alone, approximately 24,000 personnel are set to be engaged in security operations. Additionally, special security forces have been deployed to provide enhanced protection at 5,938 polling stations identified as “sensitive.”

Voter statistics

Patnaik further informed that 4.18 lakh postal votes have been recorded across Tamil Nadu thus far. The state has 14.59 lakh first-time voters. Additionally, 325 polling stations are designated to be managed exclusively by women.

Vote counting

Finally, she announced that the counting of votes will take place at 62 centers located across Tamil Nadu. The Assembly election in Tamil Nadu is scheduled to take place tomorrow, with the Election Commission actively engaged in making the necessary arrangements and transporting voting machines to various polling stations.