The Election Commission has kick started the preparation for UP Assembly polls due early next year. All District Magistrates have been directed by Chief Electoral Officer to take possession of electronic voting machines (EVMs) by July 30.
The Election Commission has allotted EVMs used during the recent Assembly polls in Assam, Tamilnadu and West Bengal. The district authorities have also been directed to start the first level checking of EVMs from August 1.
The DMs, who are also District Returning Officers, have also been directed to start the process of vulnerability mapping of each Assembly segment so that sector and zonal magistrates could be deployed during polls.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of UP, Arun Singhal reviewed preparations for the 2017 Assembly polls in lucknow on Wednesday which was attended by top police officers including ADG (law and order) Daljit Chaudhary.
The Election Commission plans to take up the task of roll revision in a big way for the Assembly polls. The cut off date for inclusion in roll will beJanuary 1, 2017.
For women voters, special camps for enrollment of voters will be organized at district level. The objective of organizing these is maximum enrollment of female voters to improve gender ratio.
The Election Commission during roll revision in UP had detected 17 categories of irregularities which included as many as 58 lakh voters. Of these 42 lakh have been rectified and District Returning Officers have been asked to dispose remaining irregularities in a time-bound manner.
The CEO has also directed the DMs to identify absentees, dead and shifted voters from rolls They have been asked to exercise caution and discretion while deleting voters from rolls. For the deletion of voters from rolls, the DMs have been asked to act as per information in the National Population Register (NPR).
In each of the 75 districts, `Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines are proposed to be installed which generate a receipt after casting of votes by voters.
For creating awareness and increasing participation of people in elections, the CEO has asked the DMs to prepare Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme in their districts and record each programme.