Chandigarh: Around 70,000 security personnel, including central forces, have been deployed in the wake of polling in 13 Lok Sabha seats on June 1, Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sibin C said here on Friday.
Besides, 1.20 lakh polling staff have been deployed for the voting in the state, he said.
Polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will take place from 7 am till 6 pm on Saturday.
Addressing the media here, the Punjab CEO said the total number of voters in Punjab is 2,14,61,739 comprising 1,12,86,726 male voters and 1,01,74,240 female voters and 773 transgender voters.
In comparison to the total number of voters during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Punjab, there was an increase of around seven lakh in number of voters, said the Punjab CEO, accompanied by nodal officer and IPS officer M F Farooqui.
The Chief Electoral Officer said 5,38,715 voters belong to the 18-19 age group, who are eligible for casting their votes for the first time.
He further said that a target of achieving more than 70 per cent voter
turnout has been fixed for the June 1 elections.
Punjab had seen a voter turnout of 65.96 per cent during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, which was below the national average.