Chief Electoral Officer Vinay Kumar Choubey on Sunday chaired a meeting with representatives of various political parties and asked them to spread awareness among voters about the new provisions introduced by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
He said that the ECI has introduced postal ballot for voters with disabilities and voters above 80 years of age. Besides, token system and booth app have been launched at the polling booth for voters, added Choubey.
Choubey said that the facilities already provided for differently-abled and elderly voters will continue in this election as well, but for the first time they will be able to vote through postal ballot. “To avail this facility, they have to inform the concerned electoral officer to this effect by the fifth day of the commencement of nomination process.
After this, a list of voters with disabilities and more than 80 years of age will be prepared for each assembly.
Then, a polling team will be formed which will go to the concerned voter's house and provide Form-12 (D) related to the postal ballot and complete the voting process,” he said.
Choubey said that this time a token system is being arranged in the polling stations for the convenience of the voters. Under this, tokens will be given to voters in polling booths. According to the number they have received in the token, they will vote on their turn. However, this system will not be applicable to women with disabilities and elderly voters. They will be allowed to vote on priority basis
In a separate meeting with poll officials, he said that the complaints lodged regarding the violation of the Model Election Code of Conduct (MCC) on the Election Commission of India’s Vigil App will be immediately taken into consideration and prompt action will be taken to address the issue at the earliest.
The cVigil app can be downloaded from Google's Play Store. To register a complaint of violation of the MCC through the app, the user has to register on the app.
The user can create his account on the app by entering his name, mobile number, state, district assembly and residence address. To register a complaint, a photo or video of maximum two minutes has to be uploaded to corroborate the allegation. Choubey said that as soon as the photo or video is uploaded, the location of the place will also be known where the code of conduct has been violated.
“Pre-recorded videos or pictures taken cannot be uploaded on this app. With this, the recorded video or photo cannot be uploaded from the mobile gallery. This arrangement has been made to prevent misuse of this app,” he added.
Complaints related to alcohol delivery, weapon display, distribution of money or gifts, spreading fake news, provocative speeches and more can be lodged through the App.
Choubey said that any complaint filed by any citizen for violation of MCC on the cVigil App will be resolved within 100 minutes. Under this, the investigation will be directed by the district control room within five minutes of the upload of a photo or video on C-Vigil. Then in 15 minutes, the flying squad will leave for the identified site. Investigations and quick action will be taken by the flying squad in 30 minutes and in 50 minutes a report will be submitted to the District Election Officer. On this app, anyone can secretly send photos and videos of activities affecting the election process and violation of MCC without revealing their identity.
Complaint number will be given to the person filing the complaint. He can use this complaint number to know the actual status of the action taken on his complaint. Also, the status of action taken on the complaint by the FST team will be uploaded and the complainant will also be able to know the status.
The Election Commission of India on Friday announced elections in five phases in Jharkhand, thereby enforcing the MCC across the State from 5pm on Friday. Elections for the 81 assembly segments here will be held from November 30 to December 20, and the votes will be counted on December 23, the ECI said.
The voting for the five phases here will be held on November 30, December 7, December 12, December 16 and December 20, the ECI said. Jharkhand has a total of 2.26 crore electorates, the ECI added. Vigil, which stands for citizen’s vigil, was first used during the Assembly Elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram in 2018.