Assembly Elections 2022: Major announcements made by EC ahead of polls; see details here

The Election Commission of India announced the poll schedule for Assembly elections in Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. The polling will begin on February 10 and the results will be announced on March 10. All elections in five states are to be conducted in total and combined seven phases. Ahead of all the five assembly elections, Chief Election Commissioner of India Sushil Chandra has announced some major decisions like EVMs, women voters, Model Code of Conduct, number of voters and COVID-19 protocols. 

Number of voters in the upcoming polls:

CEC Sushil Chandra announced that a total of 18.34 crore electors including service voters will take part in this election out of which 8.55 crore are women electors, and 24.9 lakh first-time electors are registered in all five states in a total of 690 constituencies. 

EVMS:

• The CEC announced that EVMs and VVPATs will be utilised in all the polling stations and that the Election Commission has already made arrangements to ensure an adequate number of EVMs and VVPATs for the smooth conduct of elections.
• CEC Sushil Chandra also said, "EVM is no issue now. It is in existence since 2004 and more than 350 crore voters have used this machine. You should feel proud on EVM that this country has developed this machine which gives very accurate results, an accurate system, and a faster counting."

Model Code of Conduct/Law and Order:

• "Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into effect immediately from the announcement of the schedules. Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for ensuring the effective implementation of the MCC guidelines. Any violation of these guidelines will be strictly dealt with," said CEC Sushil Chandra. 
• The CEC also announced that the cVIGIL application should be used by voters to report any incident of violation of the Model Code of Conduct, distribution of money & freebies, following which, within 100 minutes of complaint, ECI officials will reach the place of the offence.
• It is mandatory for political parties to upload on their website detailed information regarding individuals with pending criminal cases selected as poll candidates and will also have to give a reason to select the candidate.
• Sufficient CAPF companies will be deployed in all poll-bound states looking at law and order situations and threat perception.

Encouraging women voters:

• "ECI has mandated that at least one polling station managed exclusively by women shall be set up in every Assembly constituency. Our officers have identified much more than that. There're 690 Assembly seats but we are setting up 1620 such polling booths," informed CEC Sushil Chandra.

Safety protocols amid COVID surge:

While announcing the measures to be taken by ECI for the conduct of safe elections, CEC Sushil Chandra read a couplet: "Yakeen ho to koi raasta nikalta hai, hawa ki oat bhi lekar chirag jalta hai."

• Polling hour increased by one hour. 
• No roadshows, padayatras, cycle or bike rallies and processions shall be allowed till January 15; situation to be reviewed and fresh instructions to be issued later. 
• No physical rally of political parties or probably candidates or any other group related to elections shall be allowed till January 15. The ECI should subsequently review the situation and issues further instructions accordingly.
• No victory procession after election results, only two people to accompany the winning candidate.
• A maximum number of people allowed in the rallies will be as per the direction of the SDMAs.
• Masks and sanitisers to be distributed by political parties while campaigning.
• Only 5 persons will be allowed for the door-to-door campaign.
• All election officials and employees will be considered as frontline workers and all eligible officers will be double vaccinated along with a 'precautionary dose'.
• Senior citizens above 80 years of age, persons with disabilities and COVID-19 patients can vote by postal ballot.

A total of 18.34 crore people will be voting in a total of 690 constituencies in all five states. The polling stations that have been increased by 16 per cent will be equipped with basic facilities like water, electricity, toilets. Ramps and wheelchairs will also be arranged for the physically disabled. All the polling stations will be on the ground floor for better accessibility for all. Nearly 900 observers have been deployed to keep a watch on the field. 

Image: ANI/PTI