The term of the Legislative Assembly of Jharkhand was normally due to expire on 09.03.2010. The Government of India in the Ministry of Home Affairs has intimated that the Proclamation imposing President’s Rule under article 356 of the Constitution in the State of Jharkhand issued on 19^th January 2009, keeping the State Assembly under suspended animation, which was subsequently extended up to 18^th January 2010, cannot be extended further and will expire on 18^th January, 2010. Accordingly, it has been requested that appropriate action for conducting early elections in the State may be taken so as to install a popular government before 18^th January 2010.      

  In view of the position mentioned above and by virtue of its powers, duties and functions under Article 324 read with Article 172 (1) of Constitution and Section 15 of Representation of People Act, 1951, the Commission is required to hold the General Election to the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly well before 18^th January 2010 so as to ensure installation of a popular government by the said date.

Assembly Constituencies

            In terms of Section 10 (B) of Delimitation Act, 2002, the Delimitation Commission Order published on 17.08.2007 in respect of delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies in Jharkhand has become non-est. Hence, the current general election to the Legislative Assembly of Jharkhand will be held as per the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000. The total number of Assembly

 

Constituencies in the State of Jharkhand and the seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes are as under:

 

Electoral Rolls

 

            The electoral rolls of Jharkhand were revised with reference to 1.1.2009 as the qualifying date before the General Election to the House of the People, 2009. However these rolls have been updated having regard to the provisions of sections 22 and 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. As such it is not necessary to revise the electoral rolls afresh. Accordingly, for conducting the general election to the Legislative Assembly of Jharkhand, the said electoral rolls as updated shall be used. As per final rolls, there are 1,80,27,476 electors in the State of  Jharkhand.

 

Photo Electoral Rolls

 

            Jharkhand has photo electoral rolls which will be used in the State during the forthcoming general elections for easy identification of voters. Jharkhand has 74.19% electors with photographs in the rolls. Efforts are continuing to increase the photo coverage in electoral rolls. All residual electors without photograph in the rolls are advised to contact their nearest Designated Photography Location (DPL) or the Electoral Registration Officer of their AC for inclusion of Photographs in the roll against their names.  

 

Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) and Identification of Voters

 

            Identification of the voters at the polling booth at the time of poll shall be mandatory. Electors who have been provided with EPIC shall be identified through EPIC only.  Presently, the EPIC coverage in the State of Jharkhand is 77.63%. All the residual electors are advised to obtain their Elector Photo Identity Cards from the Electoral Registration Officers of their Assembly Constituency.

 

            In order to ensure that no voter is deprived of his/her franchise, if his/her name figures in the Electoral Rolls, separate instructions will be issued to allow additional documents for identification of voters at the time of poll in the General Election to the State of Jharkhand.

 

Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)

 

            The poll in the State of Jharkhand will be conducted at all polling stations using EVMs.  The Commission has already made arrangements to ensure availability of adequate number of EVMs for the smooth conduct of elections.  A two-stage randomization of EVMs will be made.  In the first stage, all the EVMs stored in the district storage center will be randomized by the District Election Officer (DEO) in the presence of the representatives of the recognized political parties for allocation assembly constituency-wise.  After the EVMs in a constituency are prepared for poll by the Returning Officer and the ballot units are fitted with ballot papers, the EVMs will again be randomized to decide the actual polling stations in which they will be ultimately used.  The second stage randomization will be done in the presence of Observers and candidates or their election agents.

 

Law and Order and Deployment of Forces

 

            Based on the assessment of the ground situation, Central Police Forces (CPF) and State Armed Police (SAP) drawn from other States will be deployed during the ensuing general elections.  The CPF and SAP will be used generally for safeguarding the polling stations and for providing security to the electors and polling personnel at the polling stations on the poll day.  Besides, these forces will be used for securing the strong rooms where the EVMs are stored and for securing the counting centers.  Wherever needed, the CPF will be deployed in advance for area domination and other election related duties. Identification of polling stations requiring coverage by CPF in various assembly constituencies will be made in consultation with the ECI Observers.

 

            The Commission has been issuing instructions from time to time with regard to the advance preventive measures to be taken by the District Magistrates and Police authorities to maintain Law & Order and to create atmosphere conducive for conduct of free and fair elections.  The Commission will be constantly monitoring the ground situation closely and will take appropriate measures to ensure peaceful, free and fair polls in the State of Jharkhand.

 

Observers

 

            The Commission will deploy Observers in adequate number to ensure smooth conduct of forthcoming General Elections in the State of Jharkhand.  The Observers will be asked to keep a close watch on every stage of the electoral process to ensure free and fair elections. Their names, addresses within the district/constituency and their telephone numbers will be publicized in local newspapers so that the general public can quickly approach them for any grievance redressal. The Observers will be given a detailed briefing by the Commission before their deployment.

 

Micro Observers

 

In addition to Observers, the Commission will also deploy Micro-Observers to observe the poll proceedings in the polling station on the poll day in selected critical polling stations. They will be chosen from Central Government/Central PSUs officials. Micro-Observers will observe the proceedings on the poll day right from the mock poll to the completion of poll and the process of sealing of EVMs and other documents to ensure that all instructions of the Commission are complied with by the Polling Parties and the Polling Agents. These Micro-Observers will directly work under the control and supervision of the Observer. They will be tasked to ensure purity of polling process and will report to the Observers directly about any vitiation of the poll proceedings in their allotted polling stations. 

 

Conduct of Officials

 

             The Commission expects all officials engaged in the conduct of elections to discharge their duties in an impartial manner without any fear or favour.  They are deemed to be on deputation to the Commission and shall be subject to its control, supervision and discipline.  Several instructions have been issued from time to time to ensure impartiality of officials who are engaged in the conduct of elections.  The conduct of all government officials who have been entrusted with election related responsibilities and duties would remain under constant scrutiny of the Commission and strict action shall be taken against those officials who are found wanting on any account. 

 

            The Commission has already given instructions that no election related official or Police officer of the rank of sub Inspector and above shall be allowed to continue in his home district.  Besides, instructions have also been issued that election related officials including police officials who have completed three years in a district during last four years should be transferred out of that district.  The State Government has also been asked to transfer all those officers against whom the Commission has recommended disciplinary action or who have been charged for any lapse during previous elections or for any election related work, from positions entailing any election work.

 

            The State Government has been instructed to ensure that those who stand transferred shall move out physically from their last place of posting and shall not remain there on any pretext including leave. 

            The Commission has also instructed the State Government not to associate any officer with the electoral process against whom charges have been framed in a court of law in any case.

 

Protection to SC/ST Electors

 

            As per Section 3 (1) (vii) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, whoever, not being a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, forces or intimidates a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe not to vote or to vote to a particular candidate or to vote in a manner other than that provided by law shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to five years and with fine.  The Commission has asked the State Government to bring these provisions to the notice of all concerned for prompt action. 

 

Polling Stations

 

            There are 23944 polling stations in the State of Jharkhand.  For the facility of physically challenged persons, instructions have been issued to ensure that all polling stations as far as practicable, are located at ground floor and ramps are provided.  Facilitation shall also be provided for locating electors’ names in a polling station or a group of polling stations through help lines and facilitation centers.

 

Polling Parties and Randomization

 

            Polling parties shall be formed randomly, through special application software.  Three-stage randomization will be adopted.  First, from a wider district database of eligible officials, a shortlist of about 120% of the required numbers will be randomly picked up.  This group will be trained for polling duties.  In the second stage, from this trained manpower, actual polling parties as required shall be formed by random selection software in the presence of ECI Observers.  In the third randomization, the polling stations will be allocated randomly just before the polling party’s departure.

 

District Election Plan

 

             The District Election Officers have been asked to prepare a comprehensive district election plan including communication plan for conduct of elections.  The communication plan should include all resources such as landline telephones, mobile telephones, wireless sets, satellite phones etc., to facilitate effective monitoring and control on the day of poll.  The State Chief Electoral Officer has also been asked to open Help Lines and Control Rooms in each Assembly Constituency for the convenience of electors.

 

Videography

 

            All critical events will be videographed. District Election Officers will arrange sufficient number of video and digital cameras and camera teams for the purpose. The events for Videography will include filing of nomination, scrutiny thereof and allotment of symbols, preparations and storage thereafter of Electronic Voting Machines, important public meetings, processions etc. during campaign, process of dispatching of postal ballot papers, polling process in identified vulnerable polling stations, storage of polled EVMs, counting of votes etc. Digital cameras will also be deployed inside polling booths wherever needed. CDs of video recordings will be available on payment to anyone who wishes to obtain a copy of the same. 

 

Model Code of Conduct

 

            The Model Code of Conduct comes into effect immediately from now onwards.  All the provisions of the Model Code will apply to the whole of the State of Jharkhand and will be applicable to all candidates, political parties, the State Government concerned and the Union Government from today itself.  Attention of the political parties and candidates is particularly invited to the following provisions of the Code:-

 

       “There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes.  Mosques, Churches, Temples or other places of worship shall not be used as forum for election propaganda.”

 

Schedule

 

            The Commission has prepared the schedule for holding General Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Jharkhand after taking into consideration all relevant aspects, like the climatic conditions, academic schedules, festivals, prevailing law and order situation in the State, availability of Central Police Forces, time needed for movement and proper deployment of forces, and assessment of other ground realities. 

 

            The Commission after considering all relevant aspects has decided to recommend to the Governor of Jharkhand to issue notification for the General Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Jharkhand under the relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 as per the schedule annexed.

 

SCHEDULE

 

Schedule for General Election to the Legislative Assembly of Jharkhand

 

 

 

 

Hours of poll: 7 AM to 3PM

 

Counting shall be held on : 23-12-2009 (Wednesday)

 

 

No. and name of Assembly Constituencies in Phase-1 (30 ACs)

 

 

No. and name of Assembly Constituencies in Phase -2 (15 ACs)

 

 

No. and name of Assembly Constituencies in Phase – 3 (7 ACs)

 

 

No. and name of Assembly Constituencies in Phase – 4 (14 ACs)

 

 

No. and name of Assembly Constituencies in Phase – 5 (15 ACs)

Election Commission of India              _________                                           

New Delhi,       Kartika 01, 1931 / October 23, 2009

 

RM/AS