The dates for the Assembly elections due next year in Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Manipur have yet to be finalised, the Chief Election Commissioner Dr. Nasim Zaidi said on here Thursday.
“We are taking a number of inputs regarding availability of security forces and other factors [into consideration]. We are also in consultation with the State examination boards,” Dr. Zaidi said.
The CEC along with Election Commissioners A.K. Joti and Omprakash Rawat, is here on a two-day visit to asses the situation and prepare the administration for the upcoming elections.
They met leaders of political parties and also held meetings with State government officials including the Director General of Police, the Home Secretary and the Chief Secretary.
The Commission has asked the State to form a multi-disciplinary task-force comprising representatives from various departments. It has directed border check-post authorities to take steps to check distribution of merchandise to entice voters.
Dr. Zaidi said that political parties asked for a demonstration of the new Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) system to make them and the voters aware of its functioning. The system is likely be used in the Assembly elections next tear.
Dr. Zaidi also said that special summary revision 2017 has been carried out in the State, along with Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) activities. He added that 46,700 new voters have been added while 15,293 applications have been received for deletion of names from the voters list.
The deadline for summary revision, he added, has been extended to December 24, 2016. Goa has 11,07,431 voters, of whom 812 are service voters. “For the first time 40 Vanarmare Tribe members have been registered as voters,” Dr. Zaidi said.
As far as polling stations are concerned, Dr. Zaidi said that there will be 1,642 polling stations at 1,163 locations in the State. He has directed officials to set up ‘all-women polling stations’ wherever possible, to motivate women to participate in the electoral process.
He said that an online grievance redress system ‘Samadhan’ would be put in place to provide an integrated platform for registration and tracking of complaints, and another portal ‘Suvidha’ will be installed for political parties and candidates seeking various permissions in the run up to the elections.
