There has been a "substantial increase" in the number of first-time voters in Punjab, which is about 1.24 per cent of the total 1.97 crore electorates in the State.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Punjab, VK Singh on Thursday said the electoral roll has 3,67,077 voters in the age group of 18-19 years. The state goes to poll on February 4. He said it was a "substantial increase" in the number of first-time voters.
The number of voters in Punjab is 1,97,49,964, including 1,04,40,310 males and 93,09,274 females. There are 380 third- gender voters, he added. He said the total number of Non-Resident Indian voters are 281.
The CEO said 22,600 polling stations will be set up in Punjab for the 117 assembly constituencies.
Briefing about the pre-emptive measures taken by the Punjab Police in the run up to the elections, ADGP (Elections) H S Bhawra said 1,330 FIRs were registered under the NDPS Act in the past four months. "1,565 people were arrested under the NDPS Act," he said adding that around 2,000 proclaimed offenders, including absconders, have been rounded up from across the state.
A total of 13,387 non-bailable warrants were executed and 5,276 potential trouble-makers were identified out of which 3,425 were taken into preventive custody, he said. Bhawra said 22 sniffer dogs have been deployed in various districts and checking was being carried out for narcotic substance with the help of these dogs.