HP to use online software RONET in upcoming polls

Himachal Pradesh will be the first state to use Election Commission of India's new application- Returning Officer NET (RONET), an online decision support system, in the upcoming General Assembly election.

Chief Election Commissioner A. K. Joti, Election Commissioners O. P. Rawat and Sunil Arora on Tuesday launched the application which will be used by Election Commission of India (ECI), Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), District Election Officer (DEO), and Returning Officer (RO) for the purpose of better election management.

The software has been tested on pilot basis and was first used in a few constituencies of the recently concluded Punjab Assembly elections.

RONET will mark a major shift of the election procedure to an online platform.

It will be linked to eKosh for processing online payment to the entire workforce involved in election process.

With the new software, contesting candidates will be able to directly apply for permission, which will be viewed by RO on RONET.

The software also has a citizen centric mobile application through which citizens can lodge voter related issues or Model Code of Conduct complaints. The voters can see polling booths, electoral roll name search, and the election results directly from application.

RONET provides updated information to CEO/ DEO/ RO about polling staff deployment, Electronic Voting Machine (EVM)/ Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) deployment besides other details.

Through RONET, ECI aims to facilitate communication among the election commission staff, as well as provide information regarding poll day arrangements and voter turnouts to the polling party through the mobile app.

In addition, during the polling, Presiding Officer can report issues such as law and order situation and malfunctioning of machines from the mobile application to Sector Officer, RO, and DEO.