NAGERCOIL: For just 12 voters living in a remote hill settlement, election officials travelled 160 km with voting machines to set up a polling station at Mel Kothaiyar in Padmanabhapuram Assembly constituency.
The voters — employees of a power station and their families — reside in quarters in Mel Kothaiyar, an area without direct road access from nearby Keel Kothaiyar due to hilly terrain. Transport between the two locations is limited to a winch system operated by power station staff.
To conduct polling, a 14-member team comprising election officials, polling personnel and three police personnel left the Thiruvattar taluk office at around 12 pm on April 22. They carried voting machines, including reserve units to handle any technical issues.
The team was flagged off by Padmanabhapuram Assembly constituency election officer and sub-collector Vinay Kumar Meena.
They travelled via Thuckalay, Nagercoil, Panagudi, Kalakkad, Ambasamudram, Kallidaikurichi, Manimuthar and Manjolai before reaching the polling station, set up at a recreation centre in the settlement.
Mel Kothaiyar is the first polling station in the constituency. Though geographically close to Keel Kothaiyar, the lack of road connectivity means access is only via a long road route.
Officials undertook the journey in line with the Election Commission’s emphasis on the importance of every vote, ensuring that all registered voters in the remote location could cast their votes.