The Election Commission has developed a mobile phone-based application to help voters locate their polling booth easily. They can download the ‘Chunavana’ app and get access to details of polling stations and of the particular constituency.
P.C. Jaffer, Deputy Commissioner of Hassan, at a press conference on Thursday, said the app would help access polling booths easily. Similarly, voters could get the details of the booth by sending an SMS of EPIC details to 9731979899. The message format should be – ‘EPIC (Space) Voter ID Card No. XXXXXXX’.
“We have distributed EPIC to almost all voters. If the voter has not got it, he can exercise his right by carrying any photo-identity card on polling day, provided his or her name is in the final voters’ list,” he said.
The district administration had taken enough measures to curb illegal measures to woo voters. “We have booked 50 cases with regard to violations of the model code of conduct. Excise Department officials have booked another 296 cases. So far we have seized ₹ 1.42 crore in cash,” the DC said.
As many as 10,910 polling officials will be on duty on May 12. “In case of any untoward incident at any polling booth, the officials can contact either the police control room (100) or the control room in the DC’s office (1077). The staff at the control rooms will convey the message to the officers in charge of the area,” he said.
Earlier in the day, B.P. Manje Gowda, Congress candidate of Holenarasipur constituency, had alleged that officers in flying squads were acting as JD(S) agents. Reacting to these allegations, the DC said the Election Commission had treated all political parties equally and taken action whenever there was information about illegal activity.
R.K. Shahapurwad, Superintendent of Police, told presspersons that 20 companies of Central Reserve Police Force had been deployed in the district for the smooth conduct of the elections. One company of Rapid Action Force was also available.
