The elections to the 16th Lok Sabha that began on April 11 are being held in seven phases across India, out of which the first three phases took place on April 11, 18 and 23. According to reports, nearly 90 crore people are registered as voters. The Phase III (April 23) of the election, polling were held in 115 seats spread across 14 states and Union Territories. The next phases of the elections will be held on April 29 (Phase IV), May 6 (Phase V), May 12 (Phase VI) and May 19 (Phase VII). The counting of the votes will take place on May 23. The current Lok Sabha’s tenure ends on June 3. As the country goes into Phase IV of Lok Sabha polls 2019 on April 29, here are five firsts about this year’s elections.
Advertise Criminal Records
Political parties fielding candidates with criminal backgrounds are not a new trend in India. In what we can call an amazing move, candidates with criminal antecedents have to advertise their criminal records via newspapers and television channels. Earlier the candidates only had to submit the details of criminal cases against them to the poll panel via an affidavit but advertising it was never a mandatory process. If anyone failing to do so will have to face contempt of court proceeding.
According to reports released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), in Phase I of the Lok Sabha elections, 213 of the 1,266 candidates had criminal cases against them. While phase II had a total of 251 candidates with criminal cases against them.
Candidates’ Photographs on the EVMs
The EVMs and postal ballot papers carry photographs of all the candidates along with the political party names and symbols. The Election Commission’s decision will help voters identify political leaders in the fray. This decision can work in the favour of celebrity candidates like Sunny Deol and Urmila Matondkar as the voters are familiar with the faces and can connect with them easily.
Voting Receipt
This is an amazing way for voters to know that their votes are cast to their chosen candidate, the system is called ‘Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail’ (VVPAT) and is available across all the EVMs. Once the voters cast their vote, a slip is printed on the VVPAT printer that has a serial number, name, and symbol of the candidate. The information also remains visible to the elector for seven seconds and then the slip is printed.
Also read: Not just an election card, 11 other documents you can carry to cast your vote
84.3 Million New Voters
According to reports, out of the total 900 million eligible voters, 84.3 million voters will be casting their vote for the first time in Lok Sabha polls. What catches the eye is the number of voters in the age group of 18 and 19 which is 15 million. Yes! Over 1.5 crore electors are between the age of 18 and 19.
Big-sized EVMs
For the first time in history, 12-big sized EVMs were used in the Nizamabad district of Telangana. A total of 185 candidates including 178 farmers contested forcing the Election Commission to use EVMs of M3 version in each of the polling booths.