Election Commission to hold meet with poll observers on Friday

The Election Commission will on Friday hold a virtual meeting with observers who would be deployed for elections in five states.

The top brass of the poll panel will brief the various general, police and expenditure observers of their roles and responsibilities during election duty.

Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa will be held between February 10 and March 7 with the counting of votes on March 10.

The observers are drawn for various services such as IAS, IPS, IRS and various accounts services.

The Commission usually briefs observers about their assigned roles after the poll schedule is announced.

During the briefings, observers are given comprehensive inputs about various aspects of election management by senior officials of the EC.

Separately, the Commission could discuss on Saturday on whether to continue with its ban on physical election rallies, road shows and pad yatras.

Announcing the polls in five states on January 8, the EC had imposed a ban till January 15 on such physical events to prevent the spread of COVID-19.