Presentation on Sharing Best Electoral Practices : BY : Rabindra Kumar Agarwal Deputy Commissioner, Hazaribag (Jharkhand)
I was DEO East Singbhum (Jamshedpur) during the Parliamentary Election 2009 and Assembly Election Naxal effected district, surrounded with dense forest. About 25% population of district is ST. The district is having border with West Bengal and Orissa and the bordering areas are infested with naxal problems. In such situation smooth conduct of election was a challenge.
Management of voter list Just before parliamentary election 2009 the rationalization of polling station took place which increased the number of PS from 1286 to Due to this the distance a voter need to travel to a PS was minimized but there were confusion among the voter about their electoral details. To deal with this situation we started a helpline at Sub Divisional level. Another help line at district headquarter with search facility was started where any voter could get electoral details in seconds. We also hosted the complete elector roll in district web site and also organized regular meeting with political parties and urged them for their involvement in preparing a correct electoral roll. The help lines besides being of help to the general public also helped the polling and police personnel in applying for the postal ballot paper.
Maximization of photo coverage Distribution of non epic slip to voter’s trough B.L.O. BLO’s collected 20,000 to 25,000 photos which after merger in elector roll increased percentage of Epic and photo in the roll. Similarly at booth level we organised camps to receive complaints about wrong photos in the roll and took corrective action. This helped in undue bad publicity about clectoral roll and also helped in increasing the percentage of photo in the roll to 89%.
Awareness of voters Funds from the public relations dept usually released for creating awareness about Govt’s programme was dovetailed for creating voter awareness. Large number of pamphlets and hoardings were put up and nukkad nataks were organised Two sets of EVM, were kept at Block Headquarter with dedicated Personnel for demonstration purpose which was of immense benefit as voter could know if they had any doubt about how to cast votes through EVM and also helped in better understanding of functioning of EVM by the polling officials. These steps helped us in minimizing the problem in polling day and increase the voting percentage also.
Security Arrangement Assistance from bordering districts and bordering states. Detailed written instructions on do’s and don’t in the naxal areas to polling party and police personnel, so that nothing is left to chance. Joint briefing of polling personnel on security issues with SP. We removed earlier practice of taking EVM to the PS by Magistrate. This reduced expenditure and unnecessary exposure to security hazards to a large number of people. Use of choppers and multi layered communication plan. Detailed planning of induction and de induction. Paramedical staff with life saving medicines (Quick Clot) deployed in cluster points
POLL DAY On the day of poll in Assembly Election 2009 web relay from two polling stations were organized which generated awareness as well as transparency in the election process. Besides using the reserve EVMs on the poll day very effectively we also deployed master trainers for rectifying minor defaults in the EVMs in such areas where movement was risky. The reserve Personnel were kept as stand by in the cluster point for any eventuality.
Issues Permanent machinery for election work at Block to booth level. Appointment of B.L.A. must be compulsory for registered polling parties. Permanent buildings for strong room and counting hall & EVM storage at district headquarter to minimize the expenditure year by year. A local polling personnel may be deployed with each polling party for security point of view. Software for searching duplicate entries in all India level can be used for ensuring correctness of electoral roll and for increasing epic percentage.
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