The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announced new technological measures for voters, including measures against voter fraud, in a bid to ensure turnout and transparency for the upcoming assembly elections in Himachal. Pradesh and Gujarat. The Himachal Pradesh assembly election will be held in a single phase on November 12 and the counting of votes will take place on December 8. The Commission did not announce the Gujarat assembly elections.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said, “Technology will be helpful in ensuring everyone’s participation and transparency. Citizens can alert ECI about information related to electoral malfeasance through the cVIGIL app. Each of these “reactions” will receive a response within 100 minutes.
Kumar further stated that the ECI works with three main objectives: to organize free, fair, inclusive, accessible and incitement-free elections; Hassle-free, comfortable voting experience and maximum voter participation. He also said that the electoral commission aims to maximize the participation of voters, especially young people, urban dwellers, women, the elderly, people with disabilities and transgender voters.
What is the cVIGIL app?
The Election Commission described the cVIGIL app as a one-stop app for recording, reporting and resolving voting code violations. “Voters can upload a photo or video of money, alcohol or any other gift being distributed on the app. The user’s GIS location will be captured by itself and an election officer will respond to the report within 100 minutes,” the official statement read.
The technology is more complete than ever. ECI and cVigil App से किसी भी तरह के #Electoral malpractices की सूचना नागरिक ICE हर जागरूक Reaction लाएगा 100 मिनट में Action: CEC pic.twitter.com/xzQsf0Bd6w
— Election Commission of India #SVEEP (@ECISVEEP) October 14, 2022
For information regarding the voting process, a designated helpline application will also provide details regarding posting names on the voters list, polling booth, contacting BLO/ERO, verifying election results and information on the use of the EVM.
What is the Know Your Candidate (KYC) app?
The main electoral body has also introduced a new feature for voters ahead of the election called the Know Your Candidate (KYC) app. The app provides voters with information about candidates with criminal backgrounds, enabling them to make the right choice. The information will also be available on the ECI portal.
For an informed vote https://t.co/tOWPM54jmP पर उपलब्ध | #AssemblyElections #ICE #InformedVote #KYC pic.twitter.com/JlZ4EdEIYm
— Election Commission of India #SVEEP (@ECISVEEP) October 14, 2022
The ECI has mandated political parties and candidates with criminal records to have their cases publicized in local media and national newspapers to raise voter awareness. It is also mandatory for the parties to upload detailed information on their websites or social media platforms.
Vigilance on social media to check for fake news
Social media teams have also been set up to ensure strict vigilance. “We have set up social media teams to strictly monitor false information spread during the elections,” the CEC said.
Kumar said that given the increase in incidents of “misuse of social media”, social media platforms have agreed to abide by the voluntary code of ethics they formulated in March 2019.
“Social networks would be monitored. They (the teams) have all been asked to react immediately before it escalates… It becomes explosive. And if 30 minutes have passed, there is no point in answering because the damage is done. They were all asked to be very, very vigilant and to respond with facts,” he said.
He added that the teams had been instructed to respond immediately. “If they can’t respond with facts in 15-20 minutes, respond by saying we’ve seen this, we find facts and we’ll be back. For them to join this thing immediately and break this cycle, before it spirals out of control,” Kumar added.
The Elections Commissioner cited the avenues for criminal action that arise from various legislative frameworks under the ICC and the various statutes and stated that ECI would not hesitate to take these steps. “We made it clear to everyone and we will enforce it,” he said.
Kumar said the commission also asks all political parties and candidates to ensure that their supporters “do not engage in hate speech and fake news” and urged them to closely monitor posts on social media. social networks to ensure that the electoral atmosphere is not vitiated.
The Commission also led coordinated action among implementing agencies for incitement-free elections. “The identification of spending-sensitive constituencies for strict vigilance will also be conducted,” he said. The State Police, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Income Tax, Enforcement Branch (ED), GST Department, Tax Intelligence Branch, Department of State Excise, Railways Protection Force, Airports Authority of India, Department of Posts, Reserve Bank of India and CISF have been given guidelines.
Gujarat’s assembly term ends on February 18 next year while Himachal Pradesh’s will end on January 8, 2023.
The election commission said there were 1.86 lakh new voters, 1.22 lakh over-80s and 1,184 over-100 voters. “For the upcoming Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh, our teams will be ready to serve more than 55 Lakh voters, of whom 67,000 are service voters, 56,000 are Persons with Disabilities (PWD),” said the CEC Kumar.
In the 2017 Himachal Pradesh 68-member assembly elections, the BJP won a clear majority by winning 44 seats. Congress won 21 seats, the Independents won two seats and the CPI(M) emerged victorious with one seat.
In terms of percentage, the BJP won 48.79% of the total valid votes, followed by Congress (41.68%) and Independents (6.34%).
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