1. PERSONNEL on ELECTION duty THE OPERATIONAL ASPECTS
POSTAL BALLOT
PERSONNEL on ELECTION duty THE OPERATIONAL ASPECTS
CEO-PUNJAB

2. DATA BASE
DEO should check that all category of personnel are included such as:
Database to be prepared and kept ready before notification of election.
Polling personnel's
VST/FST/SST/Accounting team…
Other Mobile Units – Sector mobiles
1950 help line staff
Control room staff
Communication management team/SMS monitoring team
Micro-observers
Webcast team
BLO (if s/he is registered in a different PS)
Police/Home Guards/SRP on election duty
Police on Police Station duty
Videographers
Drivers, conductors
MCC team, etc.

3. DATA BASE MUST HAVE.. AC Details,/part no/sr. no./EPIC no.
Address with PIN code (office & residence)
Designation, salary details
If any official/employee is not enrolled as an elector, F/6 should be got filled from him/her & s/he should be enrolled during ongoing continuous revision.
If any polling staff is not having an EPIC, s/he should be provided one & database to be updated accordingly.

4. DATA BASE NODAL OFFICERS
At State level, 1 ACEO to be given charge of overall supervision of PB in the entire State for all Departments.
At State level, 1 DIG level officer for PB work co-ordination & reporting for Police, SRP, H.G. etc – to report progress to CEO
At District level, Senior Revenue officer as a Nodal officer for looking after Database Mgmt. of election staff. He will also ensure issuance of PB & subsequent arrangement for casting of votes.
The District level Nodal Officer should have a small team with her/him
1 District level Police officer of DySP rank (preferably) for above work as a Nodal officer for Police, SRP, H.G.

5. NODAL OFFICERS contd……
At A.C. level, there will be a Nodal officer (1 ARO) along with 3 officers to look after the entire PB process.
Senior Gazetted officer to be put in charge of facilitation Centre to look after the arrangements; to be deputed by DEO.
Postal dept. is to be requested to appoint their Nodal officers at..
1.State level
2.District level.
3.Nodal Post Office at Assembly level.

6. CERTIFYING..
The RO to give a certificate by the date specified by CEO regarding completion of all the Data Entry & it’s 100% cross verification.

7. Planning Before 1st Training
Pre printed form 12 to be generated and delivered to personnel drafted for election duty along with duty order.
Training of police personnel and others excluding polling staff to be conducted well before notification of election.
Even if details of ER of personnel is not available, s/he should still be provided with blank F/12

8. Planning Before 1st Training Contd…
At least 3 Computers with internet facility, printer & operator to be made available at Training Center to provide search facility to those employees who do not have web access.
Personnel to be apprised of Web search, District helpline numbers, SMS query to check their ER details.
DEO should explain entire process of PB voting at length to the political parties in the meeting.

9. Planning Before 1st Training Contd…
Nodal Officer will arrange for collecting all F/12 during the 1st Training , keeping necessary record thereof.
ALMTs can become helpful in this activity as the Training shall be arranged class wise .(Max 50 persons in each class)
All concerned ROs to maintain a part wise register of received F/12.

10. 2nd Training Facilities
To be arranged immediately after the final list of contesting candidates is prepared and ballots printed.
Sorting of prepared Postal Ballots as per the second randomization data.
Deputation of Gazetted officer along with team of officials by RO in each of the training centre.
Casting of PB for election duty staff along with Police/SRP/HG to be organized in same venue, however the date should not coincide.
Separate date of facilitation centre for different category of officials shall be decided by DEO.
Timing of facilitation centre to be decided by DEO and conveyed to contesting candidates.

11. 2nd Training Facilities Contd…
Training center itself to have a PB voting center having separate arrangement for each A.C.
Appropriate sign boards required at the venue.
Proper security arrangements for PB center/voting area.
Entry must be restricted only by Valid ID Proof/EPIC/Duty Order at the Training center & especially at PB center.

12. 2nd Training Facilities Contd…
Sufficient numbers of Gazetted officers to be appointed and seated during PB process for attestation of Declaration in F/13 A .
Contesting Candidates and/or authorized person can remain present. They must be informed well in advance by RO. Proper seating arrangements be done.
Representatives of all ROs of the district should remain present with the Register at all the facilitation center.

13. 2nd Training Facilities Contd…
Different registers, glue, fevi sticks, other stationery, should be kept available at the venue.
All polling officials from whom Form 12 have been received should be provided with Postal ballots after obtaining their signature in the prescribed register and verifying their identity (10 F).
The employees who are given PB should be explained the process of PB voting and maintenance of secrecy before the process starts.
After casting his/her vote on PB in the secret voting compartment, the employee himself/herself will put the PB in Form 13-B/Cover A.

14. 2nd Training Facilities Contd…
Next s/he will get the declaration on Form 13 A attested by a Gazetted Officer appointed for this purpose at the center.
Then s/he will put (himself/herself) his/her sealed cover A and Attested Declaration in Cover B.
Finally s/he will drop this entire sealed set in the concerned ACs Ballot box kept at the center ?
Record of issuance of PBs should be kept on the spot and summary to be submitted to the District Election Officer.
Process to be videographed while maintaining secrecy of voting.

22. DRIVERS/CLEANERS
District Nodal Officer to be appointed for Requisition of Vehicles.
(He may be the DTO)
Nodal Officer to ensure receipt of proper database from the vehicle owners
Pre Printed Form–12 generated from software by RO and given to all drivers, conductors, cleaners through the Nodal Officer.
Register to be maintained & signature of the driver & others to be obtained.
Form 12 to be signed by the drivers, conductors, cleaners and returned to the RO at least 10 days before the day of poll by the Nodal Officer.
Special camps to be held for casting of PB .

23. Role of S.P. To appoint a Nodal Officer of DySP rank for PBs.
Nodal officer – should always remain in close touch with the DEO office.
Nodal officer will collect data of on-duty police staff, HG, SRP etc. to be deputed on election duty (staff on suspension, staff to retire before poll day, on long leave, on training up to poll day, likely to be transferred due to home district or having done more than 3 years, etc to be clarified against each entry).
To ensure that NO F/12 goes directly & individually to any RO from any police personnel i.e. any application of the District in F/12 must be processed through him only.
To ensure that every F/12 is attached with election duty order of that personnel.

24. Police/SAP/HG etc…
All the police personnel must be explained thoroughly the entire process of PB voting to make it a success well before notification.
Special camps shall have to be held for Police/SAP/HG in consultation with the DEO and ROs in such a way that the entire force is able to vote by PBs & drop their covers in sealed boxes at a single venue on the same day.
The Police Observer/General Observer must be requested to visit the venue.
Candidate/his agent will be informed in advance by RO
A visit Book should be maintained at the center and videography done

25. End of PB Polling
If any official who submits Form 12 and for whom postal ballot has been prepared does not collect the postal ballot paper personally at the second/subsequent training at the facilitation center , the Postal ballot for such person should be dispatched by registered post with A/D within 24 hours.
No postal ballot prepared for issue should be retained with the RO/any other official.
Returning Officer should keep unused ballot paper in her/his custody.
After the poll, the SP shall arrange for safe dispatch of the ballot box in the custody of the concerned RO.
May be kept in a Treasury/Sub Treasury strong room.
District Election Officer to verify the safety of the ballot box.
Returning Officer shall arrange to bring the ballot box at the counting center safely on the day of counting.

26. PB through Post..
Some PB will continue to come in to the ROs office through Post
For better coordination with the Post Deptt., CEO held meeting and outlined procedure to be followed. It was decided that Post Dept. would appoint Nodal Officers at State, District and AC level who will do daily tracking and hand over PBs received (at 3:00 pm)and keep in live touch with ROs.

27. Marked Copy & Issuance of PB
In the “Marked Copy” of the ER, “PB” in RED ink should be written against the names of all who have been provided with the Postal ballots.
PB serial no. should NOT be written against the voter’s entry.
PB serial no. should be written on cover A (13-B) without fail (Imp. Reason of Rejection, if not found)
The same Team, preparing Marked Copies, may be used for issuance of PBs to get better result.
In any case only one Marked Copy should be used as a “Master copy” for issuing PBs to avoid any mistake.

28. Role of Postal DepT.
To appoint a Nodal Officers at State, district & AC level
To open a prepaid account of RO/ARO well in advance to ensure smooth handling of PB deliveries.
Collection of service voters’ PBs from RO & it’s delivery in time.
Daily delivery of PBs at 3:00 pm fixed for it & keeping record thereof.
Arrangement for delivery of received PBs on the day of counting.

29. Counting Table arrangements..
Since the inflow of PBs was huge, special Counting arrangements were made with the approval of ECI
Right next to the RO table, a special table for counting PB was arranged with one Counting Supervisor and 2-3 Counting Assistants, depending on the volume

30. Counting
Counting of PB starts first & then after 30 min. EVM counting starts.
Open the cover & see for the Declaration (13/A) first.
If not found separately, reject without opening cover.
If 13/A & cover A found separately, then match the Sr.no. of the Ballot on cover with the Declaration.
If the Sr.no. doesn’t match or is not found at all on either 13/A or on cover A, reject it.
Correct & incorrect Declarations & their respective Ballot Covers will be separated.
After sealing the Declarations, counting of PBs will start.
Second last round (penultimate round) of EVM counting will be stopped if PB counting is not completed.

31. FLOW CHARTS
Since this was first time effort to rope in all election staff for PB, CEO office issued Flow Charts for PB process.
Flow Charts for Pooling officials – was meant to be used for all staff on duty except Police and drivers and cleaners/conductors
Separate flow charts were made for Police and separate for Drivers/Cleaners
They are being circulated

32. FLOW CHARTS

33. GUJARAT RESULTS Approx 3.3 lakhs employees on election duty
2.94 lakhs issued PB
2.75 lakhs cast their vote through PB
Total turnout was 81%
Formed 0.9 % of total votes polled

34. THANKS