Election Commission Of India

A day after meeting the Election Commission officials over vote deletion issue, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar hoping the poll body will fulfil its "assurances" with necessary action. Earlier on Wednesday, Kejriwal led a delegation of the AAP in the meeting with the election commissioners to urge them for not undertaking any mass deletion of voters names before the Delhi Assembly polls. In his letter to the chief election commissioner, Kejriwal thanked the Election Commission for hearing concerns over "threat of mass deletions of voters names" in Delhi ahead of the assembly elections. We were all reassured by your commitment to uphold the sanctity of the electoral process and to safeguard the right to vote of each and every voter in Delhi," said Kejriwal citing "assurances", including "no mass deletion of votes in any assembly constituency until the Delhi Assembly polls", given to the delegation. He also cited various other

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh on Tuesday accused the Election Commission of "colluding with the BJP" as he reiterated his party's claims of deletion of voters' names from electoral rolls ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections. Addressing a press conference here, the Rajya Sabha MP said an application for the deletion of 3,800 voters' names has been submitted in RK Puram constituency and they belong to booths where the AAP has been winning elections. AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal and other party leaders have been alleging that many voters' names have been deleted from electoral rolls ahead of the Delhi polls due to be held in February next year. "We came to know that an application for the deletion of 3,800 voters' names has been submitted in the RK Puram constituency. When our workers and local MLA verified these voters, they found that 1,800 of them are still living in the same place and are eligible voters," Singh claimed at the press conference. "The voters named in the applicati

The Supreme Court on Monday disposed of a plea seeking direction to political parties to follow the procedure for protection of women at workplace under the 2013 POSH Act. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Manmohan asked the petitioner to approach the Election Commission of India (ECI) with a representation for the application of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act). Senior advocate Shobha Gupta, representing PIL petitioner Yogamaya MG, said there were six national parties in the country that did not have a grievance redressal mechanism against sexual harassment in line with the directions of the apex court and the 2013 law. The PIL arrayed 10 political parties including six national level parties -- BJP, Congress, BSP, CPI(M), National People's Party and AAP. The bench, however, observed political parties were registered under the Representation of Peoples Act and the competent authority under the law should be E

Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam has said the seven per cent increase in voter turnout in the last hour of polling for the state assembly elections was not a surge, as claimed by the opposition, but an "average" process. In a video statement on Monday, Chockaligam said Maharashtra is a large state with more than one lakh polling booths. "If 76 lakh voters turn up in the last hour of polling, it is only (an average of) 76 voters in each of the polling centres," he added. The assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand were held last month. While the BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 of the 288 seats in Maharashtra, the JMM-led alliance bagged 56 seats in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly. 'Unlike Jharkhand, Maharashtra votes more in the later half of the day. Whereas in Jharkhand, most of the voting takes place in the first half," Chockalingam said. Jharkhand is a small state compared to Maharashtra and its voting ends at 5 pm, whereas voting in Maharashtra is allow

Markadwadi village in Maharashtra plans to conduct a re-vote using paper ballots after dissatisfaction with the Election Commission's results in the recent Assembly elections

Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer, S Chockalingam said this amid ongoing allegations from Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders about EVM malpractices during the recent Maharashtra assembly elections

Mumbai Cyber Police has lodged an FIR against a man who claimed he could hack EVMs by isolating machine frequency, Election Commission (EC) officials said. The complaint in the matter was lodged by the Maharashtra chief electoral officer (CEO), alleging that the claims made by the accused, Syed Shuja, were false, baseless and unsubstantiated, they said. The FIR was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the IT Act at Cyber Police Station, Dakshin Mumbai on November 30 "against the person in this video", the CEO said. The EC action came after some social media users shared a video in which a man is heard claiming that he could hack and tamper with electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the Maharashtra elections by isolating the machine's frequency. EC officials here identified the man as Syed Shuja. In 2019, the EC ordered filing of an FIR against Shuja for making similar claims. "In a similar incident involving false claims, an FIR was lodged on the direction of the

The Election Commission on Saturday asserted that all poll procedures it followed in Maharashtra were transparent and assured that it would review all legitimate concerns flagged by the Congress, which alleged serious inconsistencies. In its interim response to the party, the poll authority invited a Congress delegation on December 3 to discuss concerns expressed by it. The Congress on Friday raised with the Election Commission "serious and grave inconsistencies" which it said were being revealed in the data relating to the polling and counting processes for the recently-concluded Maharashtra Assembly polls and sought an in-person hearing to present relevant evidence. In the response, the EC reiterated that the process was transparent with the involvement of candidates or their agents at every stage. The commission also assured of a review of the Congress' legitimate concerns and a written response after hearing the party's delegation in person. It asserted that a transparent ...

The Hemant Soren government has reinstated Manjunath Bhajantri as the Ranchi district deputy commissioner (DC), from which he was removed by the EC before the Assembly elections following a complaint by the BJP, according to a notification. The decision to bring Bhajantri back to the post was taken hours after JMM leader Hemant Soren took oath as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. The 2011 batch IAS officer was appointed as Ranchi DC by the Hemant Soren government on September 30 ahead of the polls which took place in two phases - November 20 and 23. He was removed on October 15 following a complaint by the BJP legal cell to the Chief Electoral Officer and shifted to Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society as its CEO. "Chief Executive Officer of Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) Manjunath Bhajantri has been transferred and appointed as Deputy Commissioner, Ranchi, till further orders," a notification from the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms .

The Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates who faced defeat in the recent Maharashtra assembly polls have decided to seek verification of the EVM-Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) units in their segments, a leader of the opposition alliance said. Many losing candidates of the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) pointed fingers at the functioning of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during their interaction with party head Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday. Thackeray took stock of the lacklustre performance of his party at a meeting held at his residence in Mumbai. The poll verdict last week saw the Mahayuti coalition, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP, and NCP, retaining power with a massive mandate, pushing the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to margins. The Mahayuti won 230 seats and MVA only 46 in the 288-member House. The Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) emerged as the largest party in the opposition camp by winning 20 seats, followed by Congress which bagged 16 constituencies, while the NCP (Sharadchandra

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs). Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections. The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested. "We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said. Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM

Several candidates emerged victorious in the Maharashtra assembly polls by wafer thin margins, including an AIMIM nominee in Malegaon Central by 162 votes and state Congress chief Nana Patole by 208 votes from Sakoli. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) sitting MLA Mufti Mohammad Ismail Abdul Khalique defeated Asif Shaikh Rasheed of the Indian Secular Largest Assembly of Maharashtra by 162 votes in Malegaon Central seat in Nashik district. Patole defeated BJP's Avinash Brahmankar by 208 votes in Sakoli in Bhandara district, as per the results announced by the Election Commission on Saturday. BJP's Manda Mhatre won from Belapur in Navi Mumbai by a margin of 377 votes, while Shiv Sena's Sanjay Gaikwad won from Buldhana by 841 votes. In Karjat-Jamkhed, sitting NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar retained his seat by 1,243 votes, while state minister and NCP candidate Dilip Walse Patil won from Ambegaon constituency with a margin of 1,523 votes. Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena ...

Security has been tightened at counting centres in Maharashtra, including Kalina and Dharavi, as per the visuals

The Election Commission seized over Rs 1,000 cr in cash, liquor, and drugs during polls across Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and 14 states; seizures in Maharashtra and Jharkhand seven times higher than 2019

The Election Commission has suspended seven police officers in Uttar Pradesh over allegations of voter suppression during bypolls, warning against bias and ensuring fair elections

The counting of votes for Maharashtra Assembly elections and Phase I and Phase II of Jharkhand Assembly elections will be conducted on November 23

Maharashtra Assembly Elections: During his visit to the polling station, an elderly man approached actor Akshay Kumar and raised concerns about the Juhu beach toilet installed by the actor in 2018

Jharkhand BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday said he had filed a complaint with the Election Commission against a presiding officer for allegedly "favouring a ruling party candidate" in Madhupur assembly constituency during voting. Dubey claimed that following his complaint, the officer was arrested. "I filed a complaint with the Election Commission against the presiding officer at booth number 111 in Madhupur, Deoghar district, for favouring Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate and Minister Hafizul Hassan. The commission took my complaint seriously and arrested the officer," Dubey told reporters in Deoghar. However, the Deoghar administration said the officer was replaced after being found too close to the voting compartment, which is against Election Commission rules. An official statement from Deoghar administration clarified that the presiding officer at booth number 111 had been replaced. "During monitoring in the webcasting room, the presiding officer was found too close

Former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi on Tuesday claimed that the exit polls are patently illegal and they are happening before the eyes of the Election Commission (EC). Addressing the G V G Krishnamurty Memorial Lecture here, he asked when the conduct of exit polls is banned during the "prohibited period" -- from the day of commencement of voting for the first phase till half-an-hour after the end of polling in the last phase -- how are they being held. He said when exit polls cannot be conducted in that period, how can be shown soon after conclusion of polls. "There is one patent illegality happening before our eyes and the eyes of the EC with the involvement of EC," he said. He said according to a 2009 amendment to section 126 A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the conduct, publication and dissemination of results of exit poll in any manner during the prohibited period is banned. "How is the illegality happening," he questioned. Referring to electoral b

The seizures of cash, alcohol, and other items amid the poll code conduct for the Maharashtra assembly elections amounted to Rs 660.16 crore, while 8,668 of 8,678 complaints lodged through the C-Vigil app were resolved. As per the information shared by the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer, 8,678 complaints were lodged across Maharashtra via the Election Commission's C-Vigil app from October 15, when the model code of conduct kicked in, to November 18. Of these, 8,668 complaints were resolved. Enforcement agencies from the state and Central governments seized illegal items worth a staggering Rs 660.16 crore during the same period. The seized assets included cash, alcohol, drugs, and precious metals, the CEO's office stated. The strict enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct is underway in the state which votes on November 20 ensuring that the election process remains fair and transparent. The C-Vigil app and proactive enforcement measures have played a critical role in