ECI reviews poll preparations in Raj ahead of LS elections

Senior deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha Wednesday reviewed the poll preparations in Rajasthan ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Sinha urged the officers of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to run activities under the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SWEEP) program at polling stations to make voters understand the importance of voting.

He said the polling percentage had increased to 63 per cent in 2014 Lok Sabha elections as compared to 48.46 per cent in 2009 due to the SWEEP activities in the state.

The deputy EC further directed the officials to conduct special drives to register new voters in the state through planning and monitoring especially in those constituencies where voting percentage was low in the last elections.

Sinha also reviewed the law and order situation in the state in a meeting with senior police officers.

DGP (law and order) M L Lather briefed Sinha about the related information in the meeting.

Rajasthan Chief Election Officer Anand Kumar said that hat the department had started preparations for the Lok Sabha elections 2019 with the end of the assembly electoral process.

Several other preparations have been started in the state, including first level checking of EVM-VVPAT machines and training of polling personnel, he said.