In order to ensure transparency in polling through electronic voting machine (EVM), for the first time mock poll would be conducted in every polling station an hour before commencement of the formal voting process in the presence of district electoral officers and the polling agents of the candidates in the forthcoming elections.
Addressing a Press conference here on Thursday, State Joint Chief Electoral Officer Jyoti Prakash Mishra said that as per the new system being introduced under the instruction of the Election Commission of India, in the first phase, as many as 1,000 mock polls would be conducted in five per cent of the EVMs in every district in the presence of the district Collectors who are the district electoral officers and party candidates. The objective is to examine the functioning of the EVMs, to make it tamper proof and maintain transparency in the voting process, he said.
Stating that the mock poll would be conducted thrice, Mishra said that the mock poll called as the First level Technical Checking will be conducted after the EVM Tracking Software was loaded in the presence of the district electoral officers. After that, 1,000 mock polls would be held on five per cent of the EVMs at the Returning Officer level at the time of commissioning.
In the last phase, the mock polling would be conducted in all the 35,896 booths one hour prior to the voting process on the polling date, he said, and added that the sequential print out of the mock polls would be provided to political parties to maintain transparency. The mock poll system would be deleted and the print out would be destroyed by the presiding officer.
Mishra said that 95,000 EVMs for all the polling stations had already reached the State from Karnataka and the EVM Tracking software is being loaded in presence of the DEOs and other political party representatives.
He said that the mock poll to test the functioning of the EVMs had already been completed in 25 of the 30 districts in the State and hoped that the mock poll in the rest five districts would be completed in next three to four days.
The Joint CEO said the officers were also asked to take a series of steps including the sealing of the ballot unit, and control unit of the EVMs in the presence of the candidates or their agents to prevent any manipulation of the EVMs and maintain transparency.
Bharat Electronic limited, the manufacturer of the EVMs, was asked to create a technical wing and send two to three engineers to every district to attend to the EVMs at the time of need.
He said in five Assembly constituencies in southern Odisha such as Paralakhemundi, Rayagada, Brahmapur, Chhatrapur and Gunupur, the sequential ballot paper would be written both in Odia and Telugu language for the convenience of the voters.Mishra said that for the first time, electors would get the opportunity to use their discretion in voting through the new provision– None of The Above (NOTA) in the EVM.