THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State election commission has decided to limit the number of voters in a booth to 1,000 in the upcoming local body polls. Whereas in municipalities and corporations the same would be 1,500 voters. The poll panel has also decided to divide booths having voters more than 1,000.

The poll panel has taken the decision to limit voters in each polling booth, in order to follow due regulations, including social distancing, implemented under the Covid-19 protocol. In the state, on an average, the number of voters in village panchayat booths is 1,200 whereas in municipalities and corporations the number of voters range between 1,800 and 2,000. The booths with higher number of voters will be divided. Earlier party representatives has also made the same demand before the commission, during the all-party meet.

However UDF has demanded to reduce the number of voters to 500 per booth but poll panel denied it on the grounds of unavailability of EVMs. The panel has also extended voting time by an hour. The final decision on number of polling booths will be taken only after the compilation of voters list. The panel has decided to publish voters list by the end of this week. Poll panel also thinks that voters won’t take more time to vote when their numbers are limited.