Lok Sabha elections 2019: Eligible voters in Gurugram can register till April 12

All eligible voters in Gurugram, who are 18 years or above, can register themselves as voters by April 12 at the district office in mini secretariat, Gurugram administration officials said on Wednesday. A total of 20,43,216 people from Gurugram are registered to vote this year.

While the voter list for all eligible citizens was finalised by the district administration on January 31 this year, those who have been left out of the roll can still get registered as voters by the last date, Gurugram deputy commissioner, Amit Khatri, said.

According to the state election commission, an applicant can fill Form 6 — online or offline — to get registered as a voter. However, they maintained, forms submitted after April 12 won’t be considered. The state poll body has also launched a helpline number — 1950 — on which citizens can get election-related information, officials said.

VVPAT machines will be used in this year’s election, Khatri maintained, adding that to help visually challenged voters, the election commission is going to make available Braille-enabled voting slips. Moreover, notification for conducting the polls would be issued on April 16 and no tender for development work can be issued till the model code of conduct is lifted.

According to Haryana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajeev Ranjan, the EC has launched ‘PwD mobile app’ to provide maximum facilities to disabled voters. Through this app, the disabled voters would be provided facility of vehicle from their residence to polling station besides ensuring facilities of ramp, drinking water, lights, wheel chair and ballot paper/braille voter slip.

This mobile app, the CEO said, can be downloaded on android mobile phone from play store.

He said this time better facilities have been provided to service voters such as soldiers and para-military personnel. Earlier, ballots were sent to service voters through post. On certain occasions the ballots didn’t reach the service voter or sometimes the place of posting of service voter was changed. “This year the ballot paper would be sent online so they could exercise their right to vote,” the CEO said, adding that all political parties have been asked to follow the model code of conduct strictly.

According to the directions issued by the Election Commission of India, all political parties must ensure that loudspeakers are not used from 10 pm to 6 am during the night. “All political parties must ensure that no poster, slogan, banner or flag is hoisted or painted on a private property. Those violating this rule will face action under section 425, 426, 247 and 433 of the IPC,” he said in a statement.

If a political party or candidate want to use a private property for display of election material, he would have to seek permission from the owner, and cost of the material would be added to the election expenditure of the candidate, which is up to Rs 70 lakh.

First Published: Mar 14, 2019 02:54 IST