The term of the Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh is
normally due to expire as follows:
|
Himachal Pradesh
|
07.01.2018
|
By virtue of its powers, duties and functions
under Article 324 read with Article 172(1) of the Constitution of India and Section 15 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the Commission
is required to hold general election to constitute the new Legislative Assembly
in the State of Himachal Pradesh before expiry of its present term.
(1) Assembly Constituencies
The total number of Assembly Constituencies in the State of Himachal
Pradesh and seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, as determined by the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 2008,
are as under: -
|
State
|
Total
No. of ACs
|
Reserved for SCs
|
Reserved for STs
|
|
Himachal
Pradesh
|
68
|
17
|
3
|
(2) Electoral Rolls
The
electoral rolls
of all the existing Assembly Constituencies in the State of Himachal Pradesh are being revised, with reference to 01.01.2017 as the qualifying date. The dates of publication of the Final Rolls are
indicated in the Table below and
the details of the final publication will be made available on the ECI website. As per the draft rolls, the numbers
of electors in the states are as follows:
|
State
|
Total
No. of Electors in Draft Rolls-2017 on 01/07/2017 w.r.t. 01/01/2017 as qualifying date
|
Total no of Electors
as per Final Roll on 15/09/2017
|
|
Himachal
Pradesh
|
4827644
(48.27 Lac)
|
4905677
(49.05 Lac)
|
(a)
Improvement in the health of the electoral rolls: The Commission
firmly believes that
pure and updated electoral rolls are the foundation of free, fair and credible election and intensive and sustained focus is laid on improving their quality and fidelity. The Commission, after visiting the poll bound state, had directed the State election machinery to ensure a smooth, effective, accessible and
time-bound completion of Special Summary Revision of Electoral Rolls
with 01.01.2017 as the qualifying
date, so as to ensure that all eligible un-enrolled electors in the State are duly registered.
Special efforts were made to identify the critical gaps in the electoral rolls and targeted SVEEP activities were carried out to address them.
The Commission has been constantly endeavouring to improve
the fidelity of electoral rolls by taking focused efforts for maximization of
registration of eligible electors and removing the impurities in the rolls. In
2015, the Commission has launched a nationwide comprehensive programme, namely,
NERPAP with an objective of bringing an error free and authenticated electoral
roll. A similar programme called as NERP, 2016 was organized with the
objectives of improvements of health of electoral roll and standardization of
sections, polling station and part boundaries.
This year, in tune with the theme of ‘No’ voters to be
left behind’ the Commission utilized the period of continuous updation, for
maximization of enrolment of young electors particularly 18-19 age group and
removal of entries of registered dead voters.
Special
Initiatives taken in Himachal Pradesh:
Second
Special Summary Revision 2017 was organized in Himachal Pradesh from 1st
July, 2017 to 15th September, 2017 during which 1.25 Lac no. of
voters name have been added in the electoral rolls while 47,214 names have been
deleted through form-7 after following the procedure of issuing notices.
Special
drive to enroll left out voters was organized from 16th -30th
September, 2017 in which BLOs have visited house to house of every family in
the area and as a result total of 74885 new voters name have been added in the
Electoral Roll in the State out of which 20437 new voters are belonging to
18-19 year age group.
(b) Photo Electoral Rolls
Photo Electoral Rolls will be used during this General Election and photo percentages in Photo Electoral Rolls
of this State is 100%.
(c) Electors Photo
Identity Cards (EPIC)
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. Presently,
the EPIC coverage in this State is as under:-
|
State
|
Percentage
of EPIC
|
|
Himachal
Pradesh
|
100%
|
All the residual electors are advised
to obtain their Elector Photo Identity
Cards from the Electoral
Registration Officers of their Assembly
Constituencies, urgently.
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,
if needed. Adhaar Card has also been included as an additional document
for establishing the identity
of voters at the Polling Stations.
(d) Photo Voter Slips
To facilitate the voters to know where he/she is enrolled as a voter at a particular polling station and what is his/her
serial number in the Electoral roll, the Commission
has directed that official voter slip bearing
the Photo of the elector (wherever
present in the roll) will be distributed atleast
7 days before the date of poll to all enrolled voters by the District Election Officer and a very close and rigorous monitoring of the distribution process shall be done by the DEO
and General Observer concerned. The size, design and format of the Photo Voter Slip has also been substantially improved to enhance its utility and effectiveness in voter identification, awareness
and guidance by increasing the size
of the image, providing additional information
along with polling station Nazri Naksha on the reverse of the slip and improvement
in the quality of printing.
It has also been directed that the said voter slip should be
in the languages in which
electoral roll is published
for that Assembly Constituency. The Commission has laid a special
emphasis on the systematic,
efficient and timely distribution of
the Photo Voter Slips through
the Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who are
under strict instructions to hand over the
voter
slip to the elector concerned only and not to any
other person. The BLOs shall also maintain a Pre-Printed Register of Voters and
take the signatures/thumb
impression of person to whom the Photo Voter Slip is
delivered.
The residual undistributed Voter Slips shall be returned
by the BLO to the concerned
ERO, who shall
keep the same in a sealed
cover after making an alphabetical list of
the undistributed PVS in respect
of each Part/polling station. Two copies of such alphabetical lists shall be handed over to the RO of the concerned
constituency, while
sealed cover of undistributed photo voter slips shall remain in safe custody with the
ERO. No further distribution of photo voter slips shall be done after the same are
returned to the ERO.
(e) Voter
Guide Brochure:
In this election, a Voter Guide
Brochure (in local
languages) shall be handed
over to every household ahead of the elections, giving information about the date
and time of polls, contact details of the
BLOs, important websites, helpline
numbers, documents required for
identification at the polling station besides other important information
including the Do’s and Dont’s
for
voters at the polling station.
This Voter Guide Brochure will
be distributed along with the Photo Voter Slips by the BLOs.
(3) Polling
Stations and Special Facilitation
The number of Polling Stations of Himachal Pradesh are as follows:
|
State
|
No. of
Polling
Stations
in 2012
|
No. of Polling
Stations
in 2017
|
% Increase
|
|
Himachal Pradesh
|
7252
|
7479
|
3.13%
|
(a) Assured Minimum
Facilities (AMF) at Polling
Stations:
The Commission
has upgraded the status of facilities at the Polling Stations
from the earlier concept of Basic Minimum Facilities (BMF) to Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF). Accordingly, instructions have been issued to the
Chief Electoral Officers of all these States to ensure that every Polling
Station is equipped
with Assured Minimum
Facilities (AMF) like drinking
water, shed, toilet, ramp for the physically challenged
voters, a standard voting compartment etc. for the convenience and facilitation of voters.
(b) Facilitation
for PWDs
The Commission has issued instructions to ensure that as far as practicable, all polling stations
are located at ground floor and sturdy ramps are
provided for the convenience
of differently-abled electors with wheel-chairs. Further, in
order to
provide targeted and
need- based facilitation to differently-abled voters, the Commission
has directed that all
Persons With Disabilities
(PwDs) in an Assembly Constituency are identified and tagged to their respective Polling
Stations and necessary disability-specific
arrangements made for their smooth and convenient voting experience
on the poll day. Identified PWDs will be assisted by
volunteers appointed by RO/DEO. Special facilitation will be made for PWDs
electors at Polling Stations. Also, it has been
directed that differently-abled electors are given priority
for
entering polling booths, provision made for designated parking spaces close
to
the entrance of polling
premise and special care to be provided
to electors with speech and hearing impairment. Special
focus has been laid for the sensitization of the polling personnel regarding the unique
needs of the differently-abled.
(c) Assured Minimum Facility Polling
Stations:
In order to enhance the quality of voting experience for the esteemed electors, both
in terms of the ease and comfort of voting, as well as their constructive
association with the voting process, the Commission has directed that, as far as practicable, Model Polling Stations
shall be set up in all the constituencies
of the poll bound states. The Model
Polling Stations envision
the enhancement in electoral participation experience of the voters through a three-pronged strategy of improved physical structure and
facilities of polling premises, systematic and hassle-free queue
management and courteous and
polite behaviour and conduct of the polling
personnel.
(d) Voter
Facilitation Posters:
In order to fulfill the statutory requirements
under Rule 31 of
the Conduct of Elections
Rules, 1961 and to provide accurate and relevant information for voter awareness
and information at each polling
station, the Commission has also directed that uniform
and standardized Voter
Facilitation Posters (VFP) shall be
displayed on all Polling Stations for greater facilitation and awareness of the voters. A total of FOUR (4) Posters
have been designed to capture voter-cenrtic information relevant on the poll day like details
of the Polling Booth,
polling area specified for that particular polling
booth, list of contesting candidates, contact
details of the important election
functionaries, list of prescribed
identification documents, illustrative voting
procedure, items prohibited
around the polling booth and important
Do’s and Dont’s to be observed on the poll day. The Commission has directed that these four VFPs shall be prominently displayed ay each
polling booth in the poll-going States.
(e) Voter
Assistance Booths (VAB):
Voter Assistance Booths shall be set up for every polling station
location, having a
team of BLO/officials with the objective of facilitating the voter to
locate his/her polling booth number and serial number of that voter in the electoral roll of that concerned polling booth. The VABs will be set up with prominent
signage and in such a manner that it will be conspicuous to the voters as they approach the polling
premise/building to enable
them to seek required facilitation on the poll day.
(f) Secrecy of Voting-
Increase in Height of
Standardized Voting Compartment:
In order to maintain
the secrecy of vote at the time of poll and uniformity
in use of voting compartments, the Commission has issued revised instructions to increase the height
of the Voting Compartments to 30 inches. It has been, further, directed that the Voting
Compartment should be placed on a table whose height shall be 30 inches and only corrugated plastic sheet (flex-board) of steel-grey
colour, which is completely opaque and reusable, shall be used for making the voting compartments. The Commission hopes that the use of these standardized and uniform Voting Compartments in all the polling
booths will translate into greater voter facilitation, enhance the secrecy
of vote and eliminate aberrations and non-uniformity in the preparation of Voting Compartment inside the polling booths.
(4) Special
Arrangement For Women:
All-Women Managed
Polling Stations: As part of its firm commitment towards gender
equality and greater constructive participation of women in the electoral
process, the Commission has also directed that, to the extent possible,
‘All- women Managed
Polling Stations’ shall be set up
in two polling stations for each Assembly Constituency where the entire polling staff, including the police and security personnel,
shall be women. Total 136
Women managed Polling Stations will be setup for the entire state of Himachal
Pradesh for the first time.
(5) Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs):
The poll in the State will be conducted at all polling stations
using EVMs and VVPATs. The Commission
has already made arrangements
to ensure availability of adequate number of EVMs
and VVPATs for the smooth conduct of election. The First Level Check of EVMs
and VVPATs has been completed in the presence of representatives of political
parties. A two-stage randomization
of EVMs and VVPATs will also be done. In the first stage, all the EVMs and VVPATs stored
in the district storage centre
will be randomized by the District Election Officer (DEO) in
the presence of the representatives of the recognized political parties
for Assembly Constituency-wise allocation. Second randomization of EVMs and VVPATs will be
done at RO level before preparation of EVMs and VVPATs for polling station-wise
allocation. This is done in the presence of Observer contesting
candidates/their agents. EVMs and VVPATs will be prepared and set
for election after finalization of the contesting candidates, At this stage also,
candidates or their
agents/representatives will be allowed to check and satisfy themselves in every manner about the error-free functionality of the EVMs and VVPATs. On a pilot basis, VVPAT from One (1) Polling Station in each
Assembly Constituency will be randomly selected to count VVPAT paper slips for
verification of the result obtained from the Control Unit. Thus paper slip for
68 polling stations will be counted in Himachal Pradesh.
(a) Mock Poll: Mock poll was conducted
in EVMs and VVPATs during the First Level Checking in the presence of the
representative of Political Parties. Mock poll shall also be conducted in the
presence of candidates/their agents during the commissioning of EVMs and VVPATs.
Further, on the poll day, Mock Poll shall be conducted
by the Presiding Officer at each Polling
Station before the commencement of actual polling in the presence of the Polling
Agents set up by the contesting
candidates and a
Certificate of successful conduct of the Mock Poll shall
be made by the Presiding
Officer. Immediately after the conduct of Mock Poll, the CLEAR Button shall be pressed on the EVM to clear the data of the Mock Poll and the fact that no votes are recorded in the Control Unit shall be displayed to the Polling Agents present. The Commission has issued directions
for ensuring proper training to all the polling personnel
regarding the conduct
of Mock Poll, as well as to create awareness amongst the political parties, contesting candidates, their polling
agents and other stakeholders
about the Mock Poll process.
(b) None Of The Above (NOTA) In EVMs and VVPATs: In its judgment
dated 27th September, 2013 in
Writ Petition (C) No. 161 of 2004 (People’s Union for Civil Liberties
Vs Union of India and another), the Supreme Court has directed that there should be a “None of the Above” (NOTA) option on the ballot papers and EVMs and VVPATs.
On the Balloting Unit,
below the name of the last candidate,
there will now be a button for NOTA option so that electors who do not want to vote for any of the candidates can
exercise their option by pressing the button against NOTA.
The Commission has provided a new symbol for the NOTA option, which was designed by National Institute of Design (NID). This new symbol will facilitate the voters in casting of their
votes.
NOTA Symbol
The Commission
is taking steps to bring this to the knowledge of voters and all other stakeholders
and to train all field level officials including
the polling personnel
about the provision of NOTA and its
symbol.
(c) VVPAT
( Voter
Verifiable Paper Audit Trail)
VVPATs will be used along with EVMs in all the
68 Assembly Constituencies of poll
going state of Himachal Pradesh to enhance the transparency and credibility of the election. A comprehensive SVEEP programme has
already been launched in Himachal
Pradesh to increase voters’ awareness and education about
the VVPATs.
(d) Photographs Of Candidates On EVM Ballot Paper
In
order
to
facilitate the
electors in identifying the candidates, the Commission
has prescribed
an additional measure by way of adding provision
for printing the photograph
of candidate also on the
ballot to be displayed
on the EVM (Ballot Unit) and on Postal Ballot Papers. This will also take care to avoid likely confusion
when candidates with same or similar names contest from the same constituency. For this
purpose, the candidates are required to
submit to the Returning Officer,
their recent Stamp Size photograph as per the
specifications laid down by the Commission.
Many of the poll-bound states will be using the photograph of the
candidates on the ballot papers for the first time. Instructions have also been issued to ensure
necessary publicity of this instruction
(6) Deployment
of Polling Personnel And Randomization
Polling
parties shall be formed randomly,
through the special randomization
IT application. Three-stage randomization will be adopted. First, from a wider
district database of eligible officials, a shortlist of a minimum 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 General Observers. In the
third randomization, the polling stations
will be allocated randomly to these polling
parties just before the polling party’s departure. There shall be such randomization for Police personnel and Home
Guards also, who are deployed at
the polling stations on the poll
day.
(7) Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot
System (ETPBS) for Service Voter:
During
De-Nevo registration of Service voters of various services have been uploaded
in xml files with details of Service voters and provisionally accepted cases
have been published in draft on 4th October, 2017. Election
Commission of India has directed that Records Officers shall upload all signed
and authenticated forms by 13.10.2017 for all applications which have been provisionally
accepted so that they may be included in the final rolls.
Further,
to ensure maximum enrolment of service voters, a special drive have been
organized to include balance Service voters during continuous updation phase
from 19th October onwards for a fortnight period.
Commission
has implemented ETPBS on pilot basis in four states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand and Manipur and in the entire state of Goa in the State Assembly
Elections conducted during Feb-March, 2017 and would extend it in ensuing
Himachal Assembly elections too.
(8) Affidavits Of candidates:
(a)
All Columns to be filled In: In
pursuance of the judgment dated 13th September, 2013 passed by the Supreme Court in Writ Petition (C) No. 121 of 2008 (Resurgence India
Vs
Election Commission of India and Another), which among other things
makes it obligatory for the Returning Officer
“to check whether
the information required is fully furnished (by the candidate) at the time of filing of affidavit with the nomination paper”,
the Commission has issued
instructions that in the affidavit to be filed
along with the nomination paper,
candidates are required to
fill up all columns. If any column in the affidavit is left blank, the Returning Officer
will issue a notice to the candidate to file the revised affidavit with all columns duly filled
in. After such notice,
if a candidate still fails
to file affidavit complete in all respects, the nomination paper will be
liable to be rejected by the Returning
Officer at the time of scrutiny.
The Chief Electoral Officers have
been directed to brief all Returning Officers about the judgment of
the Supreme Court and the
Commission’s instructions.
(b) Additional Affidavit along with ‘No Demand Certificate’:
The Commission has, in pursuance
to the Judgment of Hon’ble Delhi High Court in
W.P.(C ) No. 4912/1998 (KRISHAK BHARAT VS UNION OF INDIA AND ORS), directed that
at every elections to either the House of Parliament or to the State Legislature,
every
candidate, at the time of filing
nomination paper, shall also file
an additional affidavit in the prescribed format
along with the ‘No Demand Certificate’
from the agencies providing electricity, water and telephone
with also rent, in case he had been
in occupation of any Government accommodation during the last 10 years. This Affidavit would be in addition
to the affidavit required to be filed in Form-26,
and shall be got attested by an Oath Commissioner or Notary Public or Magistrate of the First Class. The outer limit for filing this Affidavit would be 3.00 PM on the last date of filing
nomination papers. It is also specified that failure to file the affidavit along
with the ‘No Demand Certificate’ would be treated as a defect of substantial nature for the purposes
of Section-36 of the Representation of People Act,
1951.
(c) Introduction of
additional facility of E-Filing of Candidate Affidavits: The Commission has provided
to the candidates an additional facility for online
submission (e-filing) of their Affidavit. The candidate can go online to ECI
website (eci.nic.in) and can submit their affidavit online through any of the services of NIC
or NSDL. Candidate need to take
print out of the affidavit submitted online and then get it notarized and
submit it to Returning officer (RO).
RO is required to verify
the printed copy with the submission done by the candidate. Further, trained Election
Commission Return Preparers will be available
in each district to assist candidates in e-filing of affidavits and abstract statements and expenses
on the same will be borne
by
the Commission.
(d) Changes in the Format of Nomination Form:
Vide a notification dated 16th September, 2016 issued by the Ministry of Law &
Justice, Government of India, the format of nomination paper (Forms 2A to 2E) has
been partially amended. In the new format, there is a requirement of affixing the photograph of the candidate and a provision has been inserted for the candidate to make a declaration that he/she
is a
citizen of India and has not acquired citizenship of any other
country. The format of
nomination papers has been further amended vide M/o Law notification dated 16.09.2016.
(9) District Election Management Plan (DEMP)
The District
Election Officers have been asked to prepare a comprehensive District Election Management Plan in consultation with SSPs/SPs and Sector
Officers, including the route plan and
communication plan for conduct of elections.
These plans will be vetted by the Observers taking
into account vulnerability mapping
exercise and mapping of critical polling
stations, in accordance
with Election Commission of India’s extant instructions.
(10) Communication plan
The Commission attaches great importance to preparation and implementation of a perfect communication plan at the district/constituency level for the smooth conduct of elections and to enable
concurrent intervention and mid-course
correction on the poll day.
For the said purpose, the Commission has directed the Chief Electoral Officer
of Himachal Pradesh to coordinate with the officers
of Telecommunication Department in the State
headquarters, BSNL/MTNL authorities, the representatives of other leading service providers in
the States so that network status in the States is assessed and communication shadow areas be
identified. The CEO has also been instructed to
prepare the best communication plan in the State and make suitable
alternate arrangements
in the communication shadow areas by providing Satellite Phones,
Wireless sets,
Special Runners etc.
(11) 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 Himachal
Pradesh and will be applicable to all candidates, political parties
and, the State Government of Himachal Pradesh. The Model Code of Conduct shall also be applicable to the Union Government
insofar as announcements/policy decisions
pertaining to/for
this State is concerned.
The Commission has made elaborate arrangements
for ensuring the effective implementation of the MCC Guidelines.
Any
violations of these Guidelines
would be strictly dealt with and the Commission re-emphasizes that the instructions issued in this regard from
time to time should be read and understood by all Political
Parties, contesting candidates and their agents/representatives,
to
avoid any misgivings or lack of information or inadequate understanding/interpretation. The governments of the poll-bound States
have also been directed to
ensure that no misuse of official machinery/position is done during
the MCC period.
The Commission has also issued
instructions for swift, effective and stringent
action for enforcement of Model Code of Conduct during the
first 72 hours of announcement of the election schedule and also for maintaining extra vigilance and strict enforcement action in the Last 72 hours prior to the close of polls.
These instructions have been issued in the form of Standard Operating
Procedures
(SOPs) for compliance by the
field election machinery.
(12) Videography/ Webcasting/CCTV Coverage
All critical events will be video-graphed. 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 papers
and scrutiny thereof, allotment of symbols, First Level Checking, preparations and storage of Electronic Voting Machines,
important public meetings, processions etc. during election campaign,
process of dispatching of postal ballot papers, polling
process in identified vulnerable polling stations, storage
of polled EVMs and VVPATs, counting of votes etc.
Additionally, CCTVs will be installed at important Border
Check Posts and Static Check Points for
effective monitoring and surveillance. Further, the Commission has directed that Webcasting, CCTV coverage, Videography and Digital cameras will also be deployed inside critical polling
booths and polling booths in vulnerable areas to closely monitor the proceedings
on the poll day without
violating secrecy of voting
process.
(13) Measures to Prevent Public Nuisance:
(a) Usage
of eco-friendly
substances for preparing
election campaign/publicity material- Considering the long-term deleterious impact of materials like plastics, polythene etc on the life-giving and life-sustaining environment, the Commission, has directed that all political parties,
contesting candidates and their authorized agents etc, shall
desist from utilizing environmentally hazardous materials like plastics, polythene etc for the preparation and usage election-related
publicity materials during the ensuing General Elections to the Legislative Assembly
of Himachal Pradesh. The DEOs and ROs are directed to
emphasize the importance of environment protection
and preservation during the meetings with the
political parties and contesting candidates and ensure that the instructions of the Commission with regard to the usage of non-eco-friendly materials like plastics, polythene etc during electioneering shall be adhered to by all concerned. The CEO shall impress upon the importance of using eco-friendly
and bio-degradable materials for campaign material to various political
parties in their respective
states/UT and issue necessary instructions in this regard.
(b) Restrictions on the use of
loudspeakers:
The
Commission is genuinely
concerned about the serious ‘noise
pollution’ and great disturbance to the peace and tranquility
of the general public by the reckless,
widespread and flagrant use of loudspeakers during election
canvassing and campaign
by
candidates, political
parties and their agents. In particular, the student community, gets
seriously disturbed and adversely impacted as their studies are badly hampered
because the loudspeakers start blaring from very early hours in the morning and continue to do so throughout the day and till extremely late hours
in the night. Similarly, the
aged, the infirm and the
sick whether in institutions, hospitals, etc. or at
home, are that the use of public
address system or loudspeakers or any sound amplifier, whether fitted on vehicles of any kind whatsoever, or in static position
used for public meetings for electioneering purposes, during the entire election period
starting from the date of announcement of election and ending with the
date
of declaration of results, shall not
be permitted at night between 10.00 p.m.
and 6.00 a.m.”
Further,
No loudspeakers fitted on vehicles
of any kind or in any other manner whatsoever shall
be permitted to be used during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for the
conclusion of the poll in any polling
area.
Moreover, for maintenance for law and order and prevention of loudspeaker use
for
inciting tension in a politically surcharged atmosphere, District
Administrations is
advised to consider
any application for permission to use loudspeakers after the
aforesaid prohibitory period
of 48
hours, on merit of each application and keeping in view the need to maintain proper law and order till the
completion of election.
(c) Also, the Commission solicits the cooperation and collaboration of all the esteemed
stakeholders notably the political
parties and contesting candidates to refrain from using loudspeakers and sound amplification in the vicinity of educational
institutions like schools and
colleges; hospitals, senior citizens homes, sanatoriums and other facilities
tending to the sick, infirm or the needy.
(14) Law and Order, Security Arrangements and Deployment
of Forces
Conduct of elections
involves elaborate security
management, which includes
not just the security of polling personnel, polling stations and polling materials, but also the overall security
of the election process. Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are deployed to supplement the local police force in ensuring
a peaceful and conducive atmosphere for the smooth conduct of elections
in a
free, fair and credible manner. In view of the same, the very preparation of poll schedule, sequencing of multi-phase elections
and choice of constituencies for each phase had to follow the logic of force availability and force management.
The Commission
has taken various
measures to ensure free and fair elections by creating a conducive
atmosphere in which each elector is able to access the polling station and cast his vote without being obstructed or being unduly influenced/ intimidated
by anybody.
Based on the assessment
of the ground situation, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and State Armed
Police (SAP) drawn from other States will be deployed during these elections. The CAPFs shall be deployed well in advance
for area domination, route marches in vulnerable
pockets, point patrolling and other confidence building measures
to re-assure and build faith in the minds
of the voters,
especially those belonging to the weaker sections, minorities etc. In the insurgency-affected areas, CAPFs shall be inducted well in time for undertaking area
familiarization and hand-holding
with local forces and all other standard
security protocols for movement, enforcement activities etc in these areas will be strictly adhered to. The CAPFs/SAP
shall also be deployed in the Expenditure Sensitive Constituencies and other vulnerable areas
and critical polling stations as per the assessment of ground realities
by the CEO of the State, in consultation with the various
stakeholders. On the Poll-eve, the CAPFs/SAP shall take position in and control of the respective polling stations and will be responsible
for
safeguarding the polling stations and for providing security to the electors and polling personnel
on the poll day. Besides, these forces will be used for securing
the strong rooms where the EVMs
and VVPATs are stored and for securing
the counting centers and
for
other purposes, as required.
The CEOs will ensure
a day-to-day monitoring of the activities and deployment of the CAPFs/SAP in these States to optimize the
usage and effectiveness of these forces for conducting peaceful and transparent elections and inform the Commission periodically. Further, the entire force deployment in the assembly segments shall be under the oversight of the Central Observers deputed by the Commission.
The Commission lays a special
emphasis on the advance preventive measures to be taken by the District Magistrates and Police authorities to maintain
the Law & Order and to create atmosphere
conducive for the 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 these States.
(15)
Protection To Electors Of SC/ST
And Other Weaker Sections:
As per Section 3 (1) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (as amended in 2015),
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 for a particular candidate or to vote in a manner other than that provided
by law, or not to
stand as a candidate etc., 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 Governments to bring these provisions
to the notice of all concerned
for prompt action. In
order to bolster the confidence of the voters hailing
from vulnerable sections
especially SCs, STs etc
and enhance their conviction
and faith in the purity and credibility
of the poll process, CAPFs/SAP
shall be extensively and vigorously utilized in patrolling
such areas, conducting route marches and undertaking others necessary
confidence building measures under
the supervision of the Central Observers.
(16)
Election Expenditure Monitoring:
Comprehensive
instructions for the purpose of effective monitoring of the election
expenditure of the candidates have been issued, which include formation
of Flying Squads (FS),
Static Surveillance Teams (SST), Video Surveillance
Teams (VST), involvement of Investigation
Directorates of Income Tax Deptt. etc. State Excise Departments
and police authorities have been
asked to monitor production, distribution, sale and storage of liquor
and other intoxicants
(including narcotics) during
the election process. The functioning and operations of the Flying Squads/Mobile
Teams shall be closely monitored using
GPS Tracking.
For greater transparency and for ease of monitoring of Election Expenses,
Candidates would
be required to open a separate bank account and incur their election
expenses from that very
account. The Investigation Directorate of Income
Tax Dept. has been asked to
open Air Intelligence units in the airports
of these states and also to gather intelligence and take necessary action against movement of large sum of money in these states.
Some new initiatives taken by the Commission to strengthen the Expenditure Monitoring mechanism are:
(a)
Standard Operating Procedure for Seizure and release
of cash: For
the purpose of maintaining purity of elections, the Election Commission of
India has issued the Standard Operating Procedure for Flying Squads and Static
Surveillance Teams, constituted for keeping vigil over excessive campaign
expenses, distribution of items of bribe in cash or in kind, movement of
illegal arms, ammunition, liquor, or antisocial elements etc. in the
constituency during election process.
In order to avoid inconvenience to the public and genuine
persons and also for redressal of their grievances, if any, the Commission has
instructed vide its instruction no. 76/Instructions/EEPS/2015/Vol-II dated
29.05.2015, that a committee shall be formed comprising three officers of the
District, namely, (i) CEO, Zila Parishiad/CDO/P.D, DRDA (ii) Nodal Officer of
Expenditure Monitoring in the District Election Office (Convenor) and (iii)
District Treasury Officer. The Committee shall suo-motu examine each case of
seizure made by the Police or SST or FS and where the Committee finds that no
FIR/Complaint has been filed against the Seizure or where the seizure is not
linked with any candidate or political party or any election campaign etc., as
per Standard Operating Procedure, it shall take immediate step to order release
of such cash etc. to such persons from whom the cash was seized after passing a
speaking order to that effect. The Committee shall look into all cases and take
decision on seizure. In no case, the matter relating to seized cash/seized
valuables shall be kept pending for more that 7(seven) days after the date of
poll, unless any FIR/Complaint is filed.
(b) Accounting of the expenditure incurred for campaign
vehicles – on the basis of permissions granted: It had come
to the notice of the Commission that the candidates take
permission from the Returning Officer for
use of vehicles for campaign purpose, but some candidates do not show the vehicle hiring charges or fuel expenses
in their election expenditure account. Therefore, it has been decided
that unless the candidate intimates the R.O. for withdrawing the permission,
the notional expenditure on
account of campaign vehicles will be calculated based on the number of vehicles
for which permissions is granted by
the Returning Officer.
(c) Filing of part statement of Election Expenditure by Political parties in 30 days:
The political parties will be required to file a part expenditure statement in respect of
the lump sum payments
made to the candidate, within 30 days after declaration of
results. The recognized political
parties shall have to submit their accounts of election expenses with the
Election Commission of India and the unrecognized political parties with the
Chief Electoral Officer of the concerned State.
(d) Account Reconciliation Meeting: In order to reduce litigations relating to expenditure accounts, a reconciliation meeting will be convened by the DEOs before
final submission of the accounts, on the 26th day after the declaration of the results.
(e) All expenditure incurred by those candidates, their party agents or party leaders on their
travel, boarding, lodging etc. who travel to overseas countries for the purpose of canvassing in their favour to seek votes of overseas electors residing
there, would be deemed to be the expenditure incurred
or authorized by the candidates in connection with their election and will have to be included
in their account of election
expenses. Moreover, any inducement to overseas electors by way of air tickets or any other documents to inducements to them, in cash or kind, to come to India for the purpose
of voting at the election
would amount to the electoral offence of ‘bribery’
within the meaning of section 171B of the IPC as also the corrupt practice of ‘Bribery’ within the meaning of section 123(1) of the R.P. Act, 1951.
(f ) Candidate’ Booth/ (Kiosk)
Outside Polling Station- Expenditure to be Included in Candidates’ Election Account:
In order to ensure effective, accurate and credible
election expenditure monitoring
and to ensure that the candidates’ expenditure accounts faithfully represent the actual
spending on electioneering, the Commission has decided that that the candidates’ booths set up outside the polling
stations should, hereinafter, be
deemed to have been
set up by the candidates as part of their individual
campaign and not by way of general party
propaganda and all such expenditure incurred on such candidates’ booths shall be
deemed to have been incurred/authorized by the candidate/his election agent,
so as to be included in his account
of election expenses. The DEOs have been asked to notify the rates of the candidates’ booths set up outside polling stations after due
consultation with the political parties as per the Commission’s
instruction to all Chief Electoral Officers vide letter no.
6/ECI/INST/FUNC/EEM/EEPS/2016/Vol.IX dated 23.12.2016. Further, Schedule-6 of account of election
expenses to be submitted by each contesting candidate has also been modified accordingly.
(g) Ceiling Of Election Expenses For
Candidates:
The election
expenses ceiling
for candidates has been revised by the Government of India vide Notification dated 28th February, 2014. As per the revised ceilings, the maximum limit of election
expenses for the Assembly Constituencies is Rs. 28 lakh per
candidate for the state of Himachal Pradesh. All
candidates are required to furnish their accounts of expenditure within 30 days
of declaration of results.
(h)
Final Accounts By Political Parties:
All Political Parties sponsoring candidates for the Legislative Assembly elections
are required to maintain
day-to-day accounts of all election
campaign expenses
and submit the accounts
to the Commission within 75 days of the completion of such elections. Such accounts will be uploaded
on the website of the Commission for public viewing.
(17) Effective use of
Media:
(a)
Media Engagement:
The Commission has always considered the media as an important
ally and a potent
force multiplier in ensuring an effective and efficient election
management. Hence, the
Commission has directed the CEO of poll-going state to take the following
measures for positive and progressive engagement
and interaction with the media:
a) Regular interaction with the media during the elections and maintaining an effective and
positive line of communication
with media at all times.
b) A
strong
and concerted focus
on the
creation
of an effective
information
dissemination system to the media at the State and district
level to ensure timely and due access
to election-related data and information
by media by appointment
of a Nodal Officer and Spokesperson
at State Level.
c)
Effective steps
to sensitize the media about the
Election Code.
d) Authority
letters will be issued
to all accredited media
for the polling day and day of counting.
Commission
expects the media to play a positive, pro-active and constructive role in supplementing and facilitating the efforts towards delivery
of free, fair, transparent, participative, peaceful and credible
elections.
(b) Use
of Social Media:
The Commission has decided to enhance its interaction and involvement with all the stakeholders in the electoral processes
by inducting the use of social media at the State
as well as the District
level. Necessary instructions in this regards have been issued
to
Chief Electoral Officers
of all States/UTs. The CEO and DEOs are expected to activate their official accounts on social media
platforms like Facebook, Twitter, You
Tube for establishing a more
interactive system.
Social Media Cells at CEO and DEO offices will professionally handle the Social Media and disseminate all the necessary
information regarding voters’ awareness,
pre-certification, MCC, etc.
Complaints received on this platform would be promptly responded
to. A Social Media Cell at ECI level has also been set up to monitor
the performance of the State/UTs
and District and to guide them to maximize the use of Social Media, making it more interactive and
interesting for the general public.
(c ) Paid News:
To deal with the menace
of ‘Paid News’, a mechanism has been laid out with three tier
Media certification and Monitoring Committees (MCMCs) at District, State and
ECI level. Revised comprehensive instructions on ‘Paid News’ are available
on the Commission’s website.
Necessary instructions have been issued to the CEO of Himachal
Pradesh to ensure
briefing of political parties and
Media in the districts about ‘Paid News’ and the mechanism
to check ‘Paid News’. The MCMCs
have been trained to do their job.
(d) Pre-Certification of Political Advertisements:
The Commission has decided that the
bulk SMSs/Voice messages on phone
and in election campaigning shall also be in the purview
of pre-certification of election
advertisements as in case
of all
electronic media/TV Channels/Cable Network/Radio
including private FM channels/Cinema halls/audio-visual displays in public places and political
advertisement in social media.
(e) Monitoring of Electronic and Social
Media:
All the election management related news would be monitored vigorously
on all the major national and regional
news channels during elections. If any untoward incident
or violation of any law/rule
is noticed, action would be taken immediately. Reports
of monitoring would also be forwarded to the CEO
concerned. Office of CEO will
ascertain status on each and every
item
and file ATR/Status Report. Various Social Media platforms shall also remain under the close and stringent vigil of the Commission
for
any content aimed at vitiating
the electoral process or designed
to
disturb peace, tranquility, social harmony and public order.
(18) Systematic Voters’ Education
and Electoral Participation (SVEEP):
Comprehensive measures for voters’ education and awareness were taken up during the Special Roll Revision process.
These measures will continue and will
be further augmented during
the ensuing electoral process.
10% of the lowest turnout Polling Stations
in each district
have been identified and possible
reasons for the lower turnout analyzed. KAP (Knowledge,
Attitude and Practices) Survey has
already been undertaken by the Chief
Electoral Officer and targeted interventions based on the findings towards
enhanced IMF (Information, Motivation and Facilitation) have
been meticulously planned and rolled out to meet the objective of ‘No Voter to be Left
Behind’. This includes
special outreach measures for Persons with Disability and identified marginal
segments in the States and Districts.
Chief
Electoral Officer of Himachal
Pradesh has been directed
to ensure wide dissemination of election related information, as well as ensure adequate facilitation measures for ensuing wider
participation of people
in polling. Model
polling stations will be set up in each of the assembly
constituencies. Voter helplines, Voters’ Facilitation Centres, web and SMS based
search facilities are
active for assistance of voters. Reminder
services on poll days have been
meticulously planned.
As per the directions of the Commission, Booth Awareness
Groups have also been activated at the Polling Stations
for educating the voters and motivating them for informed
and ethical voting.
Campus Ambassadors have been activated in educational institutions for facilitating electoral participation amongst youth.
Partnerships have been nurtured with Departments,
PSUs, CSOs and Media for maximum
outreach of SVEEP initiatives. Customized
informational and motivational
messaging has been designed to cater to different segments of the electorate. All available
platforms of information dissemination are being
utilized including electronic, digital,
outdoor, print, folk, inter-personal and social media.
(19) Certification Programme for Returning Officers:
The
Returning Officers are required to
be constantly updated on the various rules and instructions
related to conduct of polls. With
this in mind
the Commission for the
first time introduced
an in-depth Certification Programme for all Returning
Officers. Also
all the Election Trainers,
who would
be training various category of
officials involved with the conduct of elections, have been
trained in training techniques
and methodology through Train the Trainers & Facilitators
(TTF) programmes. Team Leaders
at various levels have also been given Leadership
Training. It is expected
that the election officials in the State
would thus be far better
equipped to manage elections in a
smooth manner.
(20) Deployment
of Central Observers:
(a) General Observers
The Commission will deploy General Observers in adequate number
to ensure smooth conduct of elections. 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.
The Observers will fix a suitable
time every day for meeting the political parties,
candidates and other stakeholders
to redress their election related grievances.
(b) Police Observers.
The
Commission may deploy senior IPS officers as Police Observers at district/AC level in the poll going State depending
upon the need, sensitivity and assessment of ground realities
and prevailing
law and order and security
scenario. They will monitor
all activities relating to force deployment,
law
and order situation and co-ordinate between civil and police administration to ensure free and fair election.
(c) Expenditure Observers.
The Commission has also decided to appoint
adequate number of Expenditure Observers and Assistant Expenditure Observers who will exclusively
monitor the election expenditure of the contesting
candidates. Control room and Complaint
Monitoring Centre with 24 hours toll free numbers
shall be operative during the entire election process. Banks
and Financial Intelligence Units of Government
of India have been asked to forward suspicious cash withdrawal reports
to the election officials. Comprehensive instructions for the purpose of effective monitoring of the election expenditure of the candidates have been separately issued by the Commission and are available at ECI
website <www.eci.nic.in >.
(d) Micro Observers
As per the extant instructions, the General Observers will also deploy Micro-Observers,
from amongst Central Government/PSUs Officials, to observe
the poll proceedings on the poll day in critical/vulnerable polling stations.
Micro-Observers will
observe the proceedings at the polling
stations on the poll day, right from the conduct
of mock poll, to the completion of poll and the process of sealing of EVMs
and VVPATs and other documents so as to ensure that all instructions of the Commission
are complied with by the Polling Parties and the Polling Agents. They will report to the General Observers directly regarding any vitiation of the poll proceedings in their allotted polling stations.
(21) New IT Applications To
Be Used For Forthcoming General Elections:
(a) SAMADHAN: Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System
A comprehensive, robust and reliable
Public Grievance Redress System has been developed
by the Election Commission to provide a common platform for all complaints,
grievances, concerns
and suggestions lodged by any member of the public, including our various stakeholders
like
political parties, candidates, civil society groups etc. A
citizen has the multi-modal facility to lodge any election-related complaint
via bouquet of channels/sources like
Website (http://ceohimachal.nic.in), Email, letter, fax, SMS,
Call-centre (Call-center Number is ‘’1950’’) etc. A Mobile App shall also be made available for
the people, so that they can submit complaints with photographs/videos
on the common platform. SMS is sent to complainant on receipt/disposal of complaint and the complainant can track status and view ATR online or through the Mobile App.
This system has been developed in such a manner that in addition
to providing redress to the complaints of the pubic, it also serves as a common
interface for providing
services through a common interface. It is thus aimed
as a complete G to C interface to
provide seamless services to the citizens on election related
matters.
(b) SUVIDHA: Single Window
Permission System
A single window system
for
giving election-related permissions/clearances within 24 hours
has been created. In this system, Candidates and Political
Parties can apply for permissions for Meetings, Rallies, vehicles, temporary election office,
loudspeakers etc
at a
single location, where back-end convergence of various authorities/departments has been done. This system is put in place at every RO level in each sub-division
which will provide for applying,
processing, granting and monitoring permissions in a synergistic manner. However, in case of permissions for Helicopter usage/landing and use of helipads, the application shall
have to be submitted atleast 36 hours in advance.
(c) SUGAM: Vehicle
Management System
It is an IT-based Vehicle Management System with the facility of issuance of requisition letters for vehicles,
capturing of vehicle details
with address, mobile number and bank details of owner and driver, transfer of vehicles
from one district to another
district etc.
(d) Webcasting/CCTVs at Polling Stations:
Webcasting at selected distant polling
stations for LIVE monitoring of election process,
to
keep a check on illegal activities
such as booth capturing, money distribution and bogus voting and to bring about complete transparency in the voting process shall be
undertaken. Further, during the election
process, CCTV monitoring and webcasting shall also be done at various border check-posts,
check-nakas and other sensitive and critical locations across the constituencies to keep a strict vigil on any nefarious activities
designed to vitiate the electoral process.
(e) Polling/Police Personnel
Deployment System:
This
application will be used
for
creating database
of police/polling personnel, generation of command/appointment letters, sending SMS regarding
deputation/ training, tagging of patrolling party with force, generation
of application for postal ballot, formation
of polling party/police party after randomization, for sending
polling personnel/police force from one district to another
district etc.
(f ) E-Payment :
The
Commission has directed to the Chief Electoral Officer of Himachal Pradesh to
make Payments through e-payment gateway for (i) Timely Payment for all the
Civilian Officials/Police Officials deployed for “Election Duties” (ii) Timely
Payment to all the Owners of the Vehicles which are Requisitioned for Election
Purpose , (iii) Timely Payment for all the Vendors who provide Goods and
Services for Election related Duties in all the Assembly Constituencies.
(g) Voter Centric
Information Dissemination Initiatives:
It is the constant endeavour of
the Commission to facilitate the voters across the country in accessing the multifarious
election-related services and information. As part of this vision, an SMS-based search facility and Voter Friendly Interactive Website
has already been launched and successfully working.
(22) 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. 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 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 of Inspector level and above, who have completed three years in a district
during last four years,
should be transferred out of that district. Police officers
of the rank of Sub-Inspectors, who have completed three years in a Sub-Division/Assembly Constituency or are posted in their home sub
division/assembly constituency, shall also be transferred out of that Sub-Division
and the Assembly
Constituency.
The Commission has also instructed the State Governments not to associate any officer with
the electoral process against whom charges have been framed in a
court of law in any case.
(23) Poll Day Monitoring System
A constant
and stringent 24-hour
monitoring of the critical
events and activities of the poll day shall
be done using the Poll Day Monitoring System. All the crucial events like reaching
of Polling
Parties, Votes Cast, Voters’ Images etc shall be captured and monitored using this state-of-the-art IT application, which has the added advantage
of being used offline also, so as to
circumvent non- connectivity
of network. All data captured offline is synchronized with the
centralized server as soon as the person using the App comes in
the coverage area. Through this App, we can find
out Voter Turnout (VTR) gender-wise, age-wise and section-wise. Improvement of quality of image in the roll can also be done through this App as we get the recent colour photograph of the voter
against old / bad quality photograph in the roll.
(24) New Initiatives
1. Use
of VVPATs at Polling Stations:
VVPATs will be used along with EVMs in all
7479 Polling Stations of 68 Assembly
Constituencies of poll going state of
Himachal Pradesh to enhance the transparency
and credibility of the elections. On
a pilot basis, VVPAT from One (1) Polling
Station in each Assembly Constituency will be randomly selected to count VVPAT
paper slips for verification of the result obtained from the control unit.
2. Security
Net :
To
ensure peaceful, free and fair election it is necessary that an atmosphere free
from intimidation & inducement to voters is ensured. To maintain Law &
Order in an effective way and to take swift and time bound preventive action
against intimidators such as Proclaimed Offenders/Bail Jumpers/History
Sheeters/Antisocial elements an IT based system by name Security Net has been
developed to monitor Preventive action at Police Station level. The Licensed
Arms deposited, the illegal arms Liquor, drugs seized, NBW executed, cash,
freebies seized and Nakas put to check any movement of antisocial elements,
etc. would be monitored on continuous basis at Police Station level through
Security Net.
3.
RO Net:
To
have efficient election management as per Commissions direction, and integrated
IT solution which works on Web Portal, Mobile App and thorough SMS, has been
developed to be implemented first time in entire State of Himachal Pradesh
which would make the conduction of election efficient, transparent, smooth,
free and fair. This innovation is based on the Pilot RO-Net which was
implemented in a few Constituencies of Ludhiana District in Punjab during
Jan-Feb 2017 Assembly Elections of Punjab.
4.
All Women Managed Polling Stations:
All-
women Managed Polling Stations’ shall be set up in
two polling stations for each Assembly Constituency
where the entire polling staff, including the police and security personnel,
shall be Women. Total 136
Women Managed Polling Stations will be setup for the entire state of Himachal
Pradesh for the first time.
5.
Booth Level Planning:
First
time in the Country an innovative “bottom up” approach of booth level planning
and management has been implemented in the State of Himachal Pradesh where in
Booth Level plans for 7479 Polling Stations have been prepared containing all informations
and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for response for smooth conduct of
elections at each Polling Station. These booth level Plans have been used to
prepare AC level, District level and State level Election Management Plans.
6.
E-Atlas :
As
a new innovation, GIS based planning, implementation and monitoring of various
election related activities in real time is being implemented in the State of
Himachal Pradesh. It would be useful to take immediate response for conduct of
various activities related to election including natural disasters in any of
the Polling Stations.
7.
E-Payment Gateway for Goods and Services:
All
Payments will be made through e-payment gateway for (i) Timely Payment for all
the Civilian Officials/Police Officials deployed for “Election Duties” (ii)
Timely Payment to all the Owners of the Vehicles which are Requisitioned for
Election Purpose , (iii) Timely Payment for all the Vendors who provide Goods
and Services for Election related Duties in all the Assembly Constituencies.
8.
Registration of Service Voters and ETPBS:
Commission
has implemented ETPBS (Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System) on
pilot basis in 4 states of Punjab, UP, Uttarakhand and Manipur and in the
entire state of Goa in the State Assembly Elections conducted during Feb-March,
2017 and would extend it in Himachal Pradesh election too.
9.
Brail EPIC and Brail Photo Voter Slips:
To
have inclusive elections, special provisions have been made for all differently
abled electors. Brail EPIC and Brail Photo Voter Slips would be issued to all
visually challenged electors. Queueless voting at all Polling Stations would be
ensured for all differently abled electors.
(25) Schedules
of Election
The Commission has prepared the Schedules
for holding General Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh after taking into consideration all
relevant aspects
like climatic conditions, academic
calendar, major festivals, prevailing law
and order situation
in the State, availability of Central Police Forces,
time needed for movement, transportation and timely deployment of forces and in-depth
assessment of other relevant ground realities.
The
Commission after considering
all relevant
aspects has decided to
recommend
to the Governors of the State of Himachal
Pradesh to issue notifications for the General Elections to their
respective states under the relevant provisions
of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, as per the Schedule
annexed.
The Commission seeks the active cooperation, close collaboration and constructive
partnership of all the esteemed stakeholders in the electoral process and strives to employ the collective synergies towards delivering a smooth,
free, fair, peaceful participative and festive elections.
Click here to see Annexure
Election
Commission of India
New
Delhi : 12th October, 2017
RM/ VM/RS