GPS to be fitted in poll vehicles; live telecasts in 50% polling stations: CEO Anurag Goel

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Following the announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule in the state, to be held in three phases from April 19, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) stated that it has made comprehensive preparations for the conduct of elections to the 18th Lok Sabha in a free, fair, participative, accessible, inclusive, transparent, and peaceful manner.

CEO, Assam, Anurag Goel, said in this connection, “All vehicles to be used in the election, from those carrying EVMs to poll personnel, will have GPS installed in them to monitor them in real time. Moreover, there will be provision of live telecast from 50% of the polling stations.”

There will be a total of 28,650 polling stations in the state this time, including five auxiliary polling stations. Of this, 1,409 polling stations will be manned by women. Also, there will be 262 model polling stations. For the first time, one polling station in every constituency will be operated by Persons with Disability (PwD).

This time, there are a total of 2,43,01,960 electors, of which 1,21,79,358 are males, 1,21,22,188 are females, and 414 are of the third gender.

The CEO of 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 the election is over. Further, all Form 6 and Form 8 (shifting) received 10 days before the last date of filing of nominations 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 also appealed to everyone to search their names in the electoral roll. They can check it in the electoral rolls uploaded to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and District Electoral Officer (DEO) websites, in the copy of the electoral roll available with the Booth Level Officer (BLO) as well as the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) offices. They may also search it online by using their EPIC number at the following link: https://electoralsearch.eci.gov.in/Search by EPIC.

There will be a requirement for Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the elections as follows: Ballot Unit (BU)-34380, Control Unit (CU)-34380, and VVPAT-37245. However, he said, 41823 BUs, 37744 CUs, and 39917 VVPAT are available after conducting First Level Check (FLC).

Regarding expenditure monitoring, the CEO said 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 reported to the EC.

He also said that minimum facilities have been ensured at the polling stations by liaison with all departments concerned.

A 24x7 control room has been set up, he said. In the control room, inputs from media, webcasting/ GPS of vehicles, communication control room shall be monitored. A minimum of 50% of total polling stations, including those considered critical and vulnerable, shall be covered by webcasting, and GPS shall be fitted on vehicles of the Flying Squad and Surveillance Team (FST) and Static Surveillance Team (SST), Sector Officers, and Polling Officers.

A toll-free number, No. 1950, has been set up for any queries and complaints, or citizens can log on to ngsp.eci.gov.in.

He added 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 the Director General of Police twice to monitor different aspects of law and order situations, where the CEO apprised the participants on various applications such as Cvigil, Suvidha, and the affidavit portal.

The Chief Electoral Officer, Assam, stated that PwD voters (above 40% benchmark disability) and 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 themselves of 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 by means of a postal ballot. A special SOP has been framed at the level of the CEO for streamlining the process of voting at the facilitation centre for voters on election duty.

Significantly, the total number of voters over 100 years old is 4854. On the other hand, the total number of visually impaired voters is 45173.

The Chief Electoral Officer had a meeting with the political parties today and briefed them about the Model Code of Conduct 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. Lastly, the Chief Electoral Officer sought support and cooperation from all political parties for the smooth conduct of the Lok Sabha Election, 2024.

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