INNOVATION IN POSTAL BALLOT MANAGEMENT Sh. Liken Koyu, CO

Total Voters in the State: 7,53,170 Highest No. of Voters in A/C: 61,242 Lowest No. of Voters in A/C: 4,054 Margin of victory: <100 = 7 A/C & <500 = 10 A/C Lowest winning margin: 9 votes. IMPORTANCE OF PB IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH

PB INSTRUCTIONS Special procedure for voting by certain classes of people through Postal Ballot. Sec 60 of RPA, 1951 Guidelines for issue of PB papers. Guidelines for issue of EDC. ECI instruction No. 52/2014-SDR dtd 07/03/2014 All the voters on election duty will be issued only PB papers. In Simultaneous Election The Govt. servant who is the elector of his/her home constituency but serving outside of that District/Constituency may not be given the Postal Ballot Papers. ECI instruction No. 464/ARUN- LA/2009(Inst.)/620 dtd 03/10/2009 Lok Sabha: 05/03/2014. Vidhan Sabha: 10/03/2014. Announcement of Election date 09/04/2014. Date of Poll

DIFFICULTIES IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH Geographical Area of Arunachal Pradesh : 83,743 sq. km. Average Density of the state : 17 persons per sq. km. Vast geographical spread coupled with mobility concerns. Marked copies in large no. of constituencies needed to be prepared at least 3-7 days in advance. Due to difficult terrain Increased the use of additional manpower with lesser time to respond in PB management. Sudden announcement of Assembly Election

DATE OF JOURNEY NAME OF DISTRICT ONWARD (No. of Polling Station)POLL DAY 2/4/143/4/144/4/145/4/146/4/147/4/148/4/14TOTAL PS 9/4/14 1. TAWANG WEST KAMENG EAST KAMENG PAPUMPARE KURUNG KUMEY LOWER SUBANSIRI UPPER SUBANSIRI WEST SIANG MECHUKA EAST SIANG UPPER SIANG DIBANG VALLEY LOWER DIBANG VALLEY LOHIT ANJAW TIRAP & LONGDING CHANGLANG TOTAL DEPARTURE OF POLLING PARTIES WITH EVMs FROM HQ (DATE-WISE) (As per Original Plan, subject to materialization of Helicopter, if any.)

APPROACH: Commission was approached on 16/03/2014 to reconsider its 2009 instruction. The Commission allowed the extension of the facilities on 26/03/2014.Information Technology was used. Form A & Form B shared through IT. A comprehensive guideline was prepared for the management of the PB.

Polling Personnel Police Personnel Other categories of Election Duty Staff such as Sector Magistrate, Micro Observer, drivers, cleaners, Porters & so on. Grand Total (A+B+ C) Electors in Other District (District- wise) Total (A) Electors in Other District (District- wise) Total (B) Electors in Other District (District- wise) Total (C) Distri ct Name Elect ors (Nos.) Distri ct Name Elect ors (Nos.) Distri ct Name Elect ors (Nos.) S l. N o. Name Se x Ag e Desig nation Depa rtme nt Election Duty Designatio n EPI C Assembly Constitue ncy Dis tric t Duplic ate entry (Yes/N o) FORM-A SUMMARY FORMAT FOR ELECTION DUTY STAFF (DISTRICT-WISE & CONSTITUENCY- WISE) FOR POSTAL BALLOT. NAME OF DISTRICT: FORM-B LIST OF ELECTION DUTY STAFF WHO ARE ELECTORS IN a) Within District b) Outside District

IMPLEMENTATION Electronic exchange of data amongst the DEOs for the consideration of the PB at the level of concerned RO. Centralized exchange of PB & original Form-12 in r/o the concerned staff on 03/04/2014 (poll date was 09/04/14) at the state level amongst the districts. Using Voter Facilitation Centres in the duty district to cast these PBs before the date of Poll. Sending all such PBs to the respective ROs under proper security before the date & time of counting.

Keeping the candidates aware of the process & the steps. No PB for those staff whose names were found in more than one location to curtail bogus voting. Any genuine left out case, after proper verification, during the exchange may sent the PB by post before the date of voting. Developing two formats for coordination and monitoring at the DEO/CEO level regularly. IMPLEMENTATION Contd…..

EXCEPTIONAL GAIN & FUTURE LESSONS 17,982 staff out of 22,000 staff (more than 80%) exercised the PB. Scope of ordinary resident clause got widened up according to the specific circumstances. Institutional arrangements, put in place, worked satisfactorily despite of time constraint. The role of the Commission in extending the PB facilities got appreciated. This needs to be continued for future polls. Use of IT for exchange of data & centralized exchange of PB & original Form-12 can be considered for future polls to save time.

Sl. No. Assembly Constituency General Elections’ 2009General Elections’ Liromoba Likabali Basar Along West Along East Rumgong Total WEST SIANG DISTRICT ISSUED POSTAL BALLOT TO 45% MORE STAFF DURING THE SIMULTANEOUS ELECTION 2014.

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