Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar

CEC Rajiv Kumar Reviews Poll Preparedness In WB

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday reviewed the poll preparedness in West Bengal and said that there will be a few polling stations which will be run entirely by women.

“There will be a few polling stations which will be run entirely by women. We will try to deploy female security personnel in those polling stations… Similarly, some polling stations will be established entirely by persons with disabilities. This will present an example for the society that they are no less than anyone else.” said Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar in Kolkata.

The Election commission said that “As on the 22nd of January, 2024 the total #Electors in West Bengal stands at 7.58 Crores. Female electors number 3.73 Crores while male electors stand at 3.85 Crores. State has significant numbers of PwD, very senior citizens, and young voters enrolled.”

The commission said over 80,000 Polling Stations will be set up with an average of 943 Voters per Polling Station (PS). More than 75% of these PS are in rural areas.

To encourage voting amongst different sections of the population and have inclusive elections and accessible elections, of all the Polling Stations, over a 1000 PS will be all women managed while 24 would be staffed by Persons with Disabilities.

The Commission also held a review meeting with Enforcement Agencies. A coordinated approach aided by technology was called for to curb money and muscle power and ensure better outcomes. The commission said there will be a strict vigil on interstate & international borders.

ECI said its stands steadfast in its resolve to ensure that elections happen in a festive atmosphere free of fear, violence and intimidation. The CEC also urged all voters to step out and take part in the democratic festivities.

Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar reviewed the preparations in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.

After reviewing the preparedness for the forthcoming polls, Rajiv Kumar, addressed a press conference, where he said, that strict instructions have been given to the election officials to increase the voting percentage in Uttar Pradesh.

“We have been reviewing here for three days, UP is the largest state in the state. Our endeavour is to provide the best election experience and be fair. All political parties should be given equal status so that there is no discrimination,” Rajiv Kumar said.

He said that transparent elections will be ensured in the entire country, including Uttar Pradesh. He also said that the election schedule will be announced soon.

“Seven political parties came to meet us here, including state and regional parties. The demand of those political parties was that there should be fair elections and a level playing field. And all officers and police should be ordered to conduct fair elections,” he said.

The Chief Election Commissioner said that this time, three apps are being launched. Through an app, voters can directly complain to the Election Commission about inducements, distribution of liquor and misuse of money during elections. Voter Helpline is another application from which voters can get information. Through the Know Your Candidate application, the voter will be able to get all the information about the candidates. (ANI)

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EC Develops Prototype To Enable Domestic Migrants Vote Remotely

To encourage domestic migrants to exercise their franchise, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday informed about a prototype Multi-Constituency Remote Electronic Voting Machine (RVM), which would enable migrant voters to vote from remote polling stations.

“Migration-based disenfranchisement is indeed not an option in the age of technological advancement. The voter turnout in General Elections 2019 was 67.4 % and the Election Commission of India is concerned about the issue of over 30 Crore electors not exercising their franchise and also differential voter turnout in various States/UTs,” the ECI said in a statement.
It said the inability to vote due to internal migration (domestic migrants) is one of the prominent reasons behind low voter turnout.

With the objective of finding a technological solution that is credible, accessible, and acceptable to all stakeholders, the Commission, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, along with election commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel, explored the option of using a modified version of the time-tested model of M3 EVMs to enable voting at remote polling stations i.e. polling stations outside the home constituency, for domestic migrants, the statement further read.

The migrant voter wouldn’t be required to travel to his/her home district to exercise his/her franchise.

The Commission has also circulated a concept note amongst the political parties highlighting the challenges of defining domestic migrants, implementation of Model Code of Conduct, ensuring secrecy of voting, facility of polling agents for identification of voters, process and method of remote voting, and counting of votes, among other issues.

A Multi Constituency Remote Electronic Voting Machine (RVM) is being piloted by the Commission for facilitating the participation of domestic migrants from their remote locations itself.

The modified form of EVM can handle up to 72 multiple constituencies from a single remote polling booth. The initiative, if implemented, can lead to a social transformation for the migrants and connect with their roots, as many times they are reluctant to get themselves enrolled at their place of work for various reasons such as frequently changing residences, not enough social and emotional connect with the issues of an area of migration, unwillingness to get their name deleted in the electoral roll of their home/native constituencies as they have permanent residence/property, the ECI further informed.

The Commission has also invited all recognized eight national and 57 regional political parties on January 16, 2023, to demonstrate the functioning of the multi-constituency prototype Remote EVM. Members of the EC’s Technical Expert Committee will also be present during the demonstration.

The Commission has also solicited written views of recognized political parties by January 31, 2023, on various related issues including changes required in legislation, changes in administrative procedures, and voting method/RVM/technology, if any other, for the domestic migrants, the release further stated. (ANI)

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