Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday announced the schedule for the 17th Lok Sabha elections, which will be held in seven phases beginning April 11. The final phase of voting will take place on May 19. The counting of votes will be done on May 23.
Announcing the election schedule, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said: “The gazette notification will be issued on March 18. The last date of nomination of first phase polling will be March 25.” He also informed that the final electoral roles have about 900 million voters. “This marks an increase of 84.3 million voters since 2014. There are 15 million voters in the age group of 18-19. The number of polling booth has also increased from 9 lakh to 10 lakh.” The EC also announced few new features for 2019 Lok Sabha Polls.
These are the new features that EC announced for the Lok Sabha elections 2019:
EVMs and postal ballot papers to carry photograph of all candidates:
The Election Commission on Sunday said the EVMs and postal ballot papers would carry photograph of all candidates to help voters identify the political leaders in the fray. The photograph will be printed on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) ballot units as well as on postal ballot papers, the EC said.
Also Read: Model Code of Conduct: All you need to know about it
For this purpose, the candidates are required to submit to the returning officer, their recent stamp size photograph as per the specifications laid down by the Commission.
Photo voter slips will not be accepted as proof of identity:
Photo voter slip shall be used for guidance but not as proof of identity at polling stations. The poll panel has issued a list of 11 documents that would be considered for verification of a voter’s identity — passport, driving licence, service identity cards issued by government, passbook with photograph, PAN card, smart card issued by Registrar General of India, MNREGA job card, health insurance smart card, pension document, identity cards issued to elected representatives and Aadhaar card. The Commission also said that official voter slip bearing the photo of the elector (wherever present in the roll) will be distributed at least five days before the polling date.
VVPATs to have GPS:
The EC said the ‘voter verifiable paper audit trail’ (VVPAT) will be used in all polling stations this time. Ten lakh polling stations would be set up this time as against about nine lakhs in 2014. Following a row over alleged “mishandling” of VVPAT and EVM machines during the recent state assembly elections, the poll panel has decided to fit GPS devices to the vehicles carrying them, facilitating end-to-end monitoring of their movement through mobile tracking.
Also Read: Lok Sabha Elections 2019: What is VVPAT? How does it work?
Candidates with criminal antecedents to publicise fact:
For the first time in the Lok Sabha polls, candidates with criminal antecedents are required to publish information in this regard in newspapers and through television channels on three occasions during the campaign period, the Election Commission said on Sunday.
App to keep tab on violators of Model Code of Conduct
In order to empower citizens in the Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission (EC) has introduced cVIGIL app at pan India level whereby citizens can record on his mobile any violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and send it to the election authorities for appropriate action.
cVIGIL is a simple, Android-based-mobile app which is user-friendly and easy to operate. All that one has to do is to simply click a picture or to take a video and briefly describe the activity before uploading it on the cVIGIL mobile application. If the complainant desires to remain anonymous he has the option to do so.
Helpline number for voters:
With around 90 crore people to vote in 2019, the EC to help these voters have launched a helpline number, 1950. 1950 has been activated across the country to cater to the voters queries and in addition, ‘Voter Helpline App’ has also been launched. SMS facility has been made available on 1950 to enable electors verify their names on the Electoral Roll (Voter List).