Guwahati: Assam Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Goel on Sunday said the election department was ready up for the three-phase Lok Sabha elections in the state, beginning with the first phase polls in five constituencies on April 19.
As many as 28,645 polling stations were being set up across the state with a total electorate of 24301960 (Male – 12179358, Female – 12122602). Out of them, the total number of new voters in the 18 to 19 years age group is 435503 (Male – 246149, Female – 189354).
“Arrangements for setting up model polling stations and women polling stations will be made in all the election districts. After the publication of the final electoral roll, a proposal for the creation of five auxiliary polling stations (Bongaigaon-1, Kamrup Metro -3, Kamrup-2) was sent to the Election Commission of India (ECI), which has been accorded approval,” Goel said.
The CEO, Assam further said that all Form 7 and Form 8 (other than shifting) received after the announcement of the election programme shall be kept pending till the process of election is over.
“Further all Form 6 and Form 8 (shifting) received 10 days before the last date of filing of nomination shall be disposed of after doing due diligence and the forms received after that shall only be disposed of after the election process is over,” he said.
He also appealed to everyone to search for their names in the electoral roll. “They can check it in the electoral rolls uploaded to CEO/ DEO websites, in the copy of the electoral roll available with the BLO as well as ERO offices. They may also search it online by using their EPIC number in the link: https://electoralsearch.eci.gov.in or search by EPIC,” Goel said.
“The process of Form 6 (inclusion) & Form 8(only shifting) will be carried out till the last date of nomination for all forms received 10 days before the last day of nomination for each phase of election. Thus, the total figure of eligible voters will be ascertained only on those dates,” he said.
As many as 34,380 electronic voting machines and 37,245 VVPAT machines are being arranged for the polls.
“The first level checking has been completed and the first randomisation of EVMs shall take place within two to three days of notification. Before conducting the first randomisation, the movement of some buffer machines has been planned in 44 election districts, which shall be completed by March 18. EDCs and MDVs have been used for creating awareness among voters regarding EVMs which have now been discontinued, given the announcement of elections,” he said.
Regarding expenditure monitoring, three detailed meetings have been held with the enforcement agencies to monitor various aspects. “The agencies have been carrying out seizures, which are being regularly intimated to the commission,” the CEO said.
Ensured minimum facilities have been ensured at the polling stations by liaising with all concerned departments. Two meetings were held at the level of chief secretary to the government of Assam to discuss various issues related to assured minimum facilities in the polling stations.
Special awareness programmes are being taken up across the state, especially in areas with low voter turnout. Popular actors like Siddhartha Sarma and Deepjyoti Keot have been engaged as SVEEP icons to attract voters.
The DEOs and ROs have been trained in various phases at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM), Dwarka. AROs have been provided training for five days in Administrative Staff College, Khanapara. The state police nodal officers (SPNOs) and SPs have also been trained at IIIDEM and Guwahati respectively.
A cascaded training model has been formulated and implemented. The NLMTs (national-level master trainers) and SLMTs (state-level master trainers) have been trained at IIIDEM, Dwarka who have trained the DLMTs (district-level master trainers). The DLMTs have, in turn, trained the ALMTs (assembly-level master trainers) who shall train the polling personnel.
“A 24×7 control room has been set up. In the control room, inputs from media, webcasting/GPS of vehicles, and communication control room shall be monitored. A minimum of 50 per cent of total polling stations, including critical and vulnerable, shall be covered by webcasting and GPS shall be fitted on vehicles of FST/ SST, Sector Officers and Polling Officers. For any queries/complaints, citizens may call toll-free number 1950 or log on to ngsp.eci.gov.in,” officials said.
The CEO further said that preventive law and order actions have been taken by District Magistrates as well as Superintendents of Police. Meetings have been convened at the level of Director General of Police, twice to monitor different aspects of law-and-order situations.
The CEO Assam apprised participants of various applications such as Cvigil, Suvidha, affidavit portal, KYC (Know your Candidate), ENCORE, PPMS, ETPBMS, Service voter portal, EMS 2.0 etc
He further briefed that PwD (persons with disabilities) voters (above 40 per cent benchmark disability) who are marked as PwD in the electoral roll, persons above 85 years of age, absentee voters on essential services (as notified by ECI) and COVID-19 or suspected shall be allowed to avail the facility of home voting if they submit their application in Form 12 D.
Service voters and voters on election duty are also allowed to vote using postal ballot. A special SOP has been framed at the level of CEO for streamlining the process of voting at facilitation centres for voters on election duty. Total number of voters of above 100 years is 4854. On the other hand, the total number of voters of the visually impaired is 45173 (as of February 8, 2024).
According to the directives of the Election Commission of India, provisions for setting up model polling stations have been made in every election district.
The CEO requested to apply for offline permissions in the office of DEO/RO or online mode at https://suvidha.eci.gov.in/pc/public/login. The candidates may also submit their nominations online in the Suvidha portal. However, they have to administer the oath in the presence of RO.
Media Certification and Monitoring Committees (MCMC) are in place at the district and state levels. All political advertisements proposed to be issued on electronic media shall require pre-certification from the concerned MCMC.
Political advertisements in all electronic media/TV Channels/Cable Networks/Radio including private FM channels/Cinema halls/audio-visual displays in public places/voice messages and bulk SMS over phone and social media and internet websites shall come within the purview of pre-certification.
The Election Commission has requested all political parties/candidates/media to follow pre-certification instructions. MCMCs will also keep a strict vigil on suspected cases of paid news in the media and suitable action will be taken in confirmed cases as per ECI guidelines after following all due procedures.
The CEO also had a meeting with the political parties on Sunday and briefed them about the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) modalities that the candidates or parties need to follow during the election.
They were given materials on MCC, election expenditure, electoral offences, documents to be submitted for candidates with criminal antecedents, and dos and don’ts related to MCC during the meeting.
The CEO also sought support and cooperation from all political parties for the smooth conduct of the Lok Sabha polls.
Also Read: Mizoram boy, 11 becomes India’s youngest high-flying paragliding pilot