To ensure safe voting for electors, all polling stations will be sanitised one day before the poll. Earmarking of circles, token system will be in place to avoid crowding in polling stations and adequate sanitiser, mask, glove, face shield, PPE kit etc. will be provided to polling parties, said Rajesh Agrawal
TFM Desk
With Phase-I poll date for the General Election to the Manipur Legislative Assembly 2022 drawing near, all arrangements for dispersal of polling parties have been made, said chief electoral officer Rajesh Agrawal on Thursday.
Informing that Webcasting/videography will be done in all polling stations, the CEO said Adequate CAPF will also be deployed in all polling stations. ASHA and Anganwadi workers are engaged while two volunteers will also be engaged in each polling station for assisting voters. Voter Assistance Booths will be set up in all polling stations. Provision for Pick up/Drop facilities for PwD and aged electors are made available with wheelchair facilities being provided, he added.
The CEO also said to ensure safe voting for electors, all polling stations will be sanitised one day before poll. Earmarking of circles, token system will be in place to avoid crowding in polling stations and adequate sanitiser, mask, glove, face shield, PPE kit etc. will be provided to polling parties.
Sharing the details of steps being initiated for peaceful polling, Rajesh Agrawal said During the Silence period which starts from 48 hours prior to closing of polling, presence of political functionaries from outside the Constituency will be restricted. Election matters shall not to be telecasted/broadcasted in radio, TV or similar apparatus, while pre-certification by State/District MCMC is mandatory for publication of political advertisement in newspaper during the period.
“Public Meeting, procession etc will also be prohibited. On poll day, candidates shall not canvass within 200 metres of polling station. Candidates shall also not enter polling booth with security. No one will be allowed to carry mobile phones inside the polling booth except for the Presiding Officer and Polling Officer-I,” he added.
He informed that as per Section – 126 of the Representation of People Act 1951, holding public meetings is prohibited during a period of forty-eight hours ending with an hour fixed for conclusion of the poll. No person shall convene, hold or attend, join or address any public meeting or procession in connection with an election. No person shall also display to the public any election matter by means of cinematograph, television or other similar apparatus.
No person shall propagate any election matter to the public by holding, or by arranging the holding of, any musical concert or any theatrical performance or any other entertainment or amusement with a view to attracting the members of the public thereto, in any polling area. Further, any person who contravenes the above provisions shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both, he added.
Regarding Identity Proof for voting, the CEO said ECI has discontinued Photo Voter Slip as an identity proof with effect from 28 February, 2019. Photo Voter Slip is no longer a Standalone Identity Proof. For identification at Polling Station, voter shall present her/his EPIC or any identification documents approved by the Commission, which include Aadhaar Card, MNREGA Job Card, Passbooks with photograph issued by Bank/Post Office, Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour, Driving License, PAN Card, Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR, Indian Passport, Pension document with photograph, Service Identity Cards with photograph issued to employees by Central/State Govt./PSUs/Public Limited Companies and Official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs, along with the Voter Information Slips.
For making the upcoming elections inclusive, accessible and participative, the CEO said provision of Postal Ballots (PB) had been made available. Postal Ballots for service electors have been issued to all 21944 electors electronically and 147 have been received till date. 19263 voters on election duty have applied for postal ballot till date and 1512 issued out of which 1454 received. Further, 5928 postal ballots have been issued to Absentee voters out of which 5608 postal ballots received till date, he added.
Rajesh Agrawal further revealed that commissioning of EVMs for Phase-I has been completed while commissioning for phase-II will be completed today. New Symbol Loading Unit is used for the first time wherein symbol loading process is displayed through TV screens to representatives of candidates and political parties. To track the movement of EVMs, Traccar App will be embedded in all mobile phones for polling teams and sector officers, he added.
With regard to Law & Order and Seizure, the CEO said 60 FIRs had been filed and 58 persons had been arrested so far. A total of 18120 licensed arms have been deposited till date(80.89%) and 6892 persons have been bound down under CrPC. Total Seizure amounting to Rs. 165.4738298 Crore has been made including Cash (Rs. 1.826986 Crore), Drugs (Rs. 143.4735214 Crore), Liquor (Rs. 0.6383562 Crore), Gold (Rs. 12.1676592 Crore) and others (Rs. 7.367307 Crore), he added.