The district has worked a mechanism to bring transparency in the election process. During a meeting with the political party representatives and other observers of ECI, the DC Amitabh Kaushal said that that any attempt to influence voters in the name of religious sentiments will be strictly dealt under The Representation of the People’s Act 1951 and IPC as this would be violation of the model code of conduct which was enforced in the district with the declaration of Assembly elections.
The district administration also cleared doubts of the political party candidates and their representatives on the use of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) in EVMs. VVPAT is being introduced in two assembly segments (out of six assembly segments) of East Singhbhum district namely Jamshedpur East and Jamshedpur West.
“The VVPAT will enable a voter to know if his or her vote has gone to the candidates against whose symbol the EVM button was pressed by the voter,” said East Singhbhum deputy commissioner-cum-district electoral officer Amitabh Kaushal.Candidates and their representatives were also given ECI directives against going to religious places while model code of conduct is in place. Candidates were also asked to submit information about VIPs visit and campaign plans atleast before 24 hours of the schedule for security arrangement.
The normal practice of political parties lodging complaints of the opponent candidate (s) vis-à-vis poll expenditure is there but in addition to this age-old practice several innovative steps have been incorporated by the ECI to ensure transparency in the elections.East Singhbhum district administration cleared doubts amongst political party candidates and their representatives on the use of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) in EVMs.