Page 4 - Election Comission

Telangana Assembly election: Polling on November 30, result on December 3

CEC Rajiv Kumar said that 600,000 youth will be first-time voters and are aged 18-19 years

Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election 2023: Date, schedule, seats, opinion polls

Polling to elect the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly is scheduled for later this year, along with Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram

People above 80 yrs, PwDs can vote from home in Chhattisgarh polls: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday said persons above 80 years of age and those with more than 40 per cent disability will be able to cast their votes from home through postal ballots in the upcoming Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh. There are more than 2 lakh voters above the age of 80 in the state, he said. "Voters above the age of 80 years will have the facility to cast their votes from home and the same facility will be available to the persons with disabilities (more than 40 per cent). For this, they have to fill form 12D within five days of notification of the election," Kumar said at a press conference here. These voters will also have a pick drop facility to the polling stations, he said. He said an intensive drive will be carried out to enrol as voters those who had been left out in five particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) during the ongoing special summary revision (SSR)-2. Special summary revision of electoral rolls has been extended up to .

Ajit Pawar reaches EC, says he's NCP chief, stakes claim to party symbol

EC to decide fate of Ajit faction's MLAs; 32 turn up to support Ajit, Sharad Pawar parades 18

EC begins manufacturing 0.89 mn new VVPATs ahead of Lok Sabha polls

The Election Commission has started preparing for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls by commencing the manufacturing of 8.92 lakh new Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines and retiring 2.71 lakh such M2 model machines, sources said on Wednesday. They also said the poll panel has identified 3.43 lakh VVPATs for "preventive maintenance" and 2.43 lakh for upgrade to reduce nachine replacement rate. The poll panel undertakes the exercise of checking electronic voting machines and paper trail machines ahead of every Lok Sabha polls, the sources said. They said the Commission has undertaken a detailed "preparatory exercise" for next Lok Sabha polls by reviewing VVPAT stocks by retiring obsolete M2 type machines, producing new VVPATs, upgrading VVPAT to M3 from available upgradable 'M2M3' machines and carrying out preventive maintenance of 3.43 lakh such machines. Referring to media reports regarding defects in VVPATs, they said that 3.43 lakh VVPATs were identified for preventive ..

EC orders transfer of 10 cops for smooth conduct of Karnataka polls

The Election Commission has ordered the transfer of 10 police personnel, including a deputy commissioner of police (DCP), for "stricter enforcement of poll code and smooth conduct" of the May 10 assembly polls in Karnataka, sources in the poll panel said on Monday. Those transferred included the DCP (North) Bengaluru, the ACP of Yeshwanthpur and Bengaluru, and four police inspectors -- one each from Raja Rajeshwari Nagar, Yeshwanthpur, Nandini Layout police station and Rajagopal Nagar police stations. Sources said the officers being transferred were posted at the behest of a state minister and it was felt that their removal will help in "stricter enforcement and smooth conduct" of the May 10 polls. "Per se, there was no complaint. EC took the decision for better conduct of polls," a functionary said. Following clashes between BJP and Congress workers in Surpur Yadgir earlier this month, the EC also ordered the transfer of local DSP and one circle inspector for their inept handling

EC can't search, seize goods before polls are declared, says Karnataka HC

Ordering the release of rice bags seized from a social worker here, the Karnataka High Court has clarified that the election officers have the authority to search and confiscate materials only after the elections are announced. Justice M Nagaprasanna in his recent judgement on a petition filed by Isthiyak Ahmed, held that the Returning Officer or the election officials do not have any jurisdiction to search or seize any material before the announcement of elections. Merely because they are appointed as officers for conduct of elections, they cannot use the said power before the declaration of elections, the court noted. "After the declaration of elections, the entire domain would be open, but not till then. Seizure is to be exercised by the authority/officers under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, under normal circumstances. The Returning Officer and the Inspector of Police, who have conducted the search in the case at hand were not vested with such authority and their action is

Polling postponed in Sohiong, Meghalaya after UDP candidate's death

Polling for Sohiong Assembly constituency of Meghalaya in the Feb 27 state elections has been postponed following demise of state's former Home minister and UDP candidate from the seat, HDR Lyngdoh

EC should await SC order on rebel MLAs disqualification: Uddhav Thackeray

The Election Commission (EC) should wait for its decision on the original Shiv Sena party symbol until the Supreme Court gives its order on the disqualification of rebel MLAs

India sees six-fold jump in voters since 1951; total electorate over 940 mn

India has witnessed a nearly six-fold increase in the total number of voters since 1951 to over 94.50 crore this year, but almost one-third of them stayed away from exercising their franchise in the last Lok Sabha polls. This has prompted the Election Commission to walk the extra mile to bring them to the polling booths. In 1951, when the voter lists for the first general elections were prepared, India had 17.32 crore registered electors and 45.67 per cent had turned up to exercise their franchise in the newly-born Republic. The number of registered electors witnessed a gradual increase over the years, and so did their participation in the subsequent elections. In the 1957 general elections, the number of registered electors was 19.37 crore and 47.74 per cent cast their ballots to send their representatives to the Lok Sabha. Amid talks of taking the voter turnout to 75 per cent, the Election Commission has flagged the issue of the 30 crore voters who did not turn up at the polling

Election officials in Meghalaya seize over Rs 8 lakh cash, alcohol

Election officials in Meghalaya seized over Rs 8 lakh cash and alcohol in West Garo Hills district, Chief Electoral Officer F R Kharkongor said on Friday. Election to the 60-member Meghalaya Assembly is scheduled for February 27 and the model code of conduct is in force in the state. "Unaccounted cash of Rs 8.96 lakh and alcohol worth over Rs 8,000 were seized in West Garo Hills district on Thursday," Kharkongor told PTI. With this, officials have seized cash amounting to over Rs 29 lakh from across the state after the model code of conduct came into force, the CEO said. A senior district police officer said the cash was seized from a person who was driving into the state from Assam. As the person carrying the cash could not provide any satisfactory and valid documents for the same the money was seized. According to the CEO, at least 34 assembly constituencies across the state have been identified as "expenditure sensitive" and flying squads are observing strict monitoring of move

Imran slams EC, says will challenge Punjab caretaker CM's appointment in SC

Pakistan's ex-premier Imran Khan has said he will challenge in the Supreme Court the appointment of Mohsin Naqvi as the caretaker chief minister of Punjab, describing him an "enemy" of his party and slamming the election commission for reducing the country to a "Banana Republic". Naqvi was sworn in as the caretaker chief minister of Punjab on Sunday night, hours after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) unanimously decided to appoint him to the post. His appointment came after the ruling party and the opposition in the province failed to reach consensus on a name for the post. Naqvi, who was one of the two candidates suggested by ex-Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz, is the owner of a media house and said to be very close to PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari.

Bangladesh to hold presidential election by Feb 23, announces poll body

Bangladesh will hold the presidential election by February 23, the country's poll body announced

EC invites parties for demonstration of prototype Remote EVM on Jan 16

With the objective of finding a technological solution for migrant voters to all stakeholders, the Commission has explored the option of using a modified version of the time-tested model of M3 EVMs

Asaduddin Owaisi registered as voter in 2 places against EC rules: Congress

Congress leader G Niranjan has claimed that AIMIM leader and MP Asaduddin Owaisi has registered himself as a voter of two different assembly constituencies

EC free to adjudicate dispute on Shiv Sena's name, symbol: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has said that the Election Commission is free to proceed in the dispute between two rival factions of the Shiv Sena over the use of its name and symbol. The high court's order came while disposing of an appeal by former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray challenging a single judge's decision dismissing his plea against an Election Commission's (EC) interim order freezing the Shiv Sena name and election symbol. "It is pertinent to mention that the two preliminary issues which are sought to be raised by the appellant (Thackeray) are pending before the apex court...., yet the apex court... has held that there shall be no stay on the proceedings before the Election Commission of India. "Therefore, the Election Commission of India is free to proceed with the adjudication of the dispute pending before it," a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said in an order passed on Thursday which was made available on Friday. The

Those not linking Aadhaar with election card will stay in voters' list: Gov

The names of people who do not share their Aadhaar number to link with the election identity card will not be struck off the voters list, the government said on Friday, noting that the exercise is voluntary. The Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, allows electoral registration officers to require the existing or prospective elector to provide the Aadhaar number for the "purpose of establishing identity" on a "voluntary basis", Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in Lok Sabha. He was responding to a question on the linkage of Aadhaar with electoral rolls. The Election Commission has launched a programme to collect the Aadhaar number of existing and prospective electors on a voluntary basis from August 1 in all the states and UTs. It is voluntary to link Aadhaar with a Voter ID and consent is obtained from the elector for Aadhaar authentication in Form 6B which was recently introduced, he said. However, the minister made it clear that "there is no provision for withdrawing the consent"

Pak's Election Commission plans to oust Imran Khan as chairman of PTI party

Pakistan's Election Commission on Tuesday initiated the process to remove Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan from his post following his disqualification in the Toshakhana case. A notice has been issued to the former prime minister and the case has been fixed for hearing on December 13, the Dawn newspaper reported, quoting a top ECP official. Khan,70, is in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana and selling them for profit. He was later disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) under Article 63 (i) (p) for making "false statements and incorrect declaration." According to the ECP records, the gifts were purchased from the Toshakhana -- the state depository established in 1974 -- for Rs 21.5 million on the basis of their assessed value, while they were valued at around Rs 108 million. There have been numerous allegations and ...

EC shouldn't be a 'yes man' of govt and should act independently, says SC

A five-judge constitution bench emphasised that the appointment of the chief election commissioner and the election commissioners should be 'procedure-based and transparent'

State EC to convene all-party meeting tomorrow ahead of MCD polls

Ahead of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls, Delhi State Election Commission convened an all-party meeting on Monday