A letter writing completion is being organized in Haryana to encourage the youth to get their names registered in the electoral rolls ahead of polling day on May 12 in Haryana.
The winners of the competition will get Rs 31,000 as first prize and Rs 21,000 as second prize. Similarly, two prizes of Rs 11,000 each will be given under the third prize. Apart from this, 30 prizes of Rs 500-500 will be given as consolation prizes.
“The last date for sending letters for the competition is April 30. The last date for getting the name registered in voters' list is April 12,” said a spokesman of the office of chief electoral officer, Haryana.
The spokesman said that the youth who are in the age group of 18 to 25 years as on January 1, 2019 and who have got registered their names in the electoral rolls before sending the letter, can participate in the competition.
The letter have to be addressed to the chief electoral officer, Haryana and will have to express his or her opinion regarding the importance of getting registered in the voting list and also, the importance of exercising their franchise in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
The participants would also have to take a pledge that they will cast their vote in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, which should reflect in their letter. The letter should be brief and well-documented. The contestant has to write his letter on a postcard or on inland letter, and below it, the contestant will have to mention his name, address, name of the assembly constituency, number, part number of voter list and voter number, the spokesman added.
EVMs can’t be tampered: Hry CEO
Haryana Chief Electoral Officer, Rajeev Ranjan on Thursday reiterated that the electronic voting machine (EVM) is technically completely secure and nobody could hack or temper it.
“There is a doubt in the minds of the people that software of EVM could be changed or hacked. But it is completely impossible to do this as there is no connectivity of any kind in the EVM.” he said adding that connectivity is required to hack any device.
EVM did not have any kind of connector, receiver and meter and therefore, it is not possible to hack the machine, he said.
Ranjan further said that from time to time, it is stated that EVM could be hacked or tempered but it is completely impossible. EVM is secure and its ballet unit and control unit are connected with each other with an encryption coding. As different encryption codes are generated after pressing the button each time, any type of tempering with the EVM is not possible, he added.
The chief electoral officer said that in elections this time, besides the EVM, Voter verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines are also being used to bring more transparency in the system.
VVPAT machine is a printer on which the voter could see the vote cast by him and ensure that his vote actually goes only to that candidate to whom he voted for. The voter could see his vote on the VVPAT screen for seven seconds, Ranjan said.
He further said that which EVM machine would go to which polling station is a randomization process. Selection of person for operating the EVM is also a part of the same process. Under this process, nobody has prior information that which EVM would go to which polling station and who would operate it.
He said that before taking the EVMs to polling stations, an inspection is made in the presence of representatives of political parties under the observation of CCTV cameras. Thereafter, again on reaching the EVMs on polling stations, mock polling is conducted on EVMs in the presence of polling agents of political parties.
Their signatures are also taken that EVMs are working properly. Apart from this, GPS tracking of entire movement of EVMs right from the warehouse to polling stations is also done, he added.