Election Comission

Bengal: BLOs press for compensation, accuse EC of ignoring work pressure

Members of a BLO rights platform with Trinamool Congress leanings on Saturday staged a protest outside the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) here, demanding compensation for colleagues who allegedly fell ill or died during electoral roll-related duties and seeking planned scheduling of future assignments. During a demonstration that coincided with the arrival of a special team of the Election Commission (EC) in the city, protesters alleged they were denied a meeting with the visiting officials despite waiting for hours. The agitation, organised under the banner of the BLO Adhikar Raksha Committee, brought along family members of a Murshidabad-based block-level officer who was admitted to a hospital after suffering a stroke, allegedly due to severe work pressure. The group accused the poll panel of "ignoring genuine grievances". The BLOs' platform raised two key demands compensation for families of workers who allegedly suffered severe health complications or died while ..

Bengal LoP accuses state govt of manipulating electoral rolls during SIR

Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday alleged that the state administration was involved in manipulating the electoral rolls during the ongoing SIR, and that senior officials were personally intervening to retain ineligible names in the voter list. He said the Election Commission (EC) should have acted "a little more swiftly" during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Speaking to reporters in Siliguri in north Bengal, Adhikari said, "The EC depends on the state machinery, which is indulged in fraud." "The state machinery is trying to include the names of Bangladeshi infiltrators in the voter list," he alleged. Adhikari claimed that senior officials were making direct calls to district-level authorities, including the district election officers, electoral registration officers and assistant electoral registration officers to ensure certain names remain on the voter rolls "in a wrong manner". "These allegedly ...

SC issues notice to ECI on Kerala's petition seeking postponement of SIR

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Kerala government, submitted in the court that the SIR schedule clashes directly with the state's upcoming local body elections

Nepal EC publishes election schedule, Jan 20 date to file nomination

The Election Commission of Nepal on Sunday published the schedule for the parliamentary election to be held in March. The candidates will have to file nomination for the election to the House of Representatives from 10 am to 6 pm on January 20, according to a notice published by the Election Commission. The list of the candidates will be published on the same day after 5 pm. The time for registering protest against any candidate is fixed from 10 am till 3 pm on January 21. The verified list of candidates will be published the next day. Those wishing to withdraw their candidacy can do so till 1 pm on January 23. The final list of candidates will then be published on the same day within 3 pm and the election symbol will be officially allotted to the candidates. The election will be held on March 5. The voting will start at 7 am and end at 5 pm, according to the Election Commission. As per the Nepalese constitution, 165 members of the House of Representatives are elected through fir

EC has not done justice to Bihar over vote deletions in SIR: D K Shivakumar

Congress leader and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar Monday alleged the Election Commission has not done justice to the Bihar electorate as it has deleted a large number of poor voters and those seeking jobs outside the state from the electoral rolls. He claimed the EC was conducting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls after admitting that "something wrong" was committed by "misusing its office". Shivakumar was here to present the 1.12 crore signatures collected from across Karnataka as part of the Congress' "Vote chor, gaddi chhod" campaign. "The Election Commission has not given justice to Bihar voters," he claimed, alleging that the votes of the poor and those migrating outside Bihar in search of jobs were deleted on a large scale during the SIR exercise. Shivakumar, however, did not answer any queries on whether he raised the issue of the change of chief ministership in Karnataka with the party high command. "I am not here to speak on politics.

SC to hear on Nov 11 plea of DMK against EC's decision to conduct SIR in TN

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on November 11 the plea of DMK challenging the decision of the Election Commission to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu. A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran was urged by lawyer Vivek Singh, appearing for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), to accord an urgent hearing to the petition. List it on Tuesday, the CJI said. On November 3, R S Bharathi, organising secretary of the DMK, moved the top court against the SIR, calling the exercise "unconstitutional, arbitrary, and a threat to democratic rights". The petition, settled by senior advocate and MP N R Elango, was filed by lawyer Vivek Singh and has sought quashing of the EC's notification of October 27 for undertaking the exercise of SIR in the state. The plea termed the SIR as being violative of Articles 14, 19 and 21 (right to equality, freedom of speech and right to life) and other provisions of the Constitut

EC reactivates its economic intelligence panel after six-year gap

The Election Commission has reactivated its economic intelligence panel after a gap of six years to curb the use of money, liquor and drugs to influence voters ahead of the Bihar polls. The Multi-Departmental Committee on Election Intelligence (MDCEI) met here on Friday for the first time since 2019 to fine-tune the strategy of enforcement agencies and central police forces to prevent the use of money power and freebies to sway voters in poll-bound Bihar. The committee was formed in 2014 ahead of that year's general elections. Officials said the committee met ahead of polls between 2014 and 2019, but did not do so formally thereafter. Agency and security forces' heads had been meeting to strategise steps to check money power. On Friday, they met on a bigger scale. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners S S Sandhu and Vivek Joshi were present at the meeting. The committee includes 17 departments -- Central Board of Direct Taxes, Central Board of Indire

SIR is the prerogative of ECI, our direction would be interference: SC

The apex court also asked the poll body to clarify whether the 2.1 million voters added to the final Bihar voter list after SIR were initially removed or are entirely new entries.

ECI announces bypolls in 8 Assembly seats across 7 states, UTs: Check dates

The by-elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Telangana, Punjab, Mizoram, and Odisha will be held on November 11. The results will be announced on November 14

EC de-lists 474 more registered unrecognised parties for flouting norms

The Election Commission (EC) on Friday said it has de-listed 474 more registered unrecognised political parties for flouting norms, including not contesting elections in the last six years. In the first phase of the exercise, the EC de-listed 334 registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs) on August 9. "In continuation, in the second phase, ECI delisted 474 RUPPs on September 18, based on non-contestation in elections conducted by ECI continuously for 6 years. Thus, 808 RUPPs have been delisted in the last 2 months," it said. Till recently, there were 2,520 RUPPs. After the de-listing exercise, 2,046 RUPPs remain. Besides, there are six recognised national parties and 67 state parties.

Notification for Vice-Presidential poll issued, nomination process begins

The post of Vice President fell vacant on July 21 after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned unexpectedly, citing health reasons

ECI abusing powers, must be fought politically, legally: Chidambaram

Amid the raging row over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday alleged that the Election Commission is trying to change the electoral character and patterns of states, and asserted that this "abuse of powers" must be fought politically and legally. The former home minister said the Bihar voter revision exercise is getting curiouser and curiouser. While 65 lakh voters are in danger of being disenfranchised in Bihar, reports of 'adding' 6.5 lakh persons as voters in Tamil Nadu is alarming and patently illegal, Chidambaram said in a post on X. "Calling them 'permanently migrated' is an insult to the migrant workers and a gross interference in the right of the electorate of Tamil Nadu to elect a government of its choice," the Rajya Sabha MP said. Why should the migrant worker not return to Bihar or his/her home state to vote in the State Assembly election, as they usually do, Chidambaram asked. "Does not the migrant

SC to hear pleas on EC's special electoral roll revision in Bihar on Monday

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a batch of pleas challenging the Election Commission's decision to undertake a special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi is likely to take up the matter in which the EC has justified its ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, saying it adds to the purity of the election by "weeding out ineligible persons" from the electoral rolls. The poll panel, while justifying its June 24 decision directing the SIR, has said all major political parties were "involved" in the exercise and deployed more than 1.5 lakh booth-level agents to reach out to eligible voters, but are opposing it in the apex court. The SIR adds to the purity of elections by weeding out ineligible persons from the electoral rolls, the ECI has said in a detailed affidavit filed to counter the allegations of petitioners, which include several political leaders, civil society members and ...

Nearly 95% of Bihar voters covered in electoral roll revision exercise: ECI

According to the ECI, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will publish the draft Electoral Roll on Friday, August 1 and invite suggestions

TDP urges EC for more time, easy inclusion in voter roll revision

The TDP urged the Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday to give adequate time to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Andhra Pradesh, saying it should not be held within six months of a major poll and the voters already enrolled in the latest roll be not required to reestablish their identity. The suggestions offered by the BJP ally to the poll watchdog come amid a political row over the ongoing SIR in Bihar as its implementation close to the Assembly polls in the eastern state and the burden of proof on prospective voters in many cases have drawn criticism from opposition parties. "The SIR's purpose must be clearly defined and limited to electoral-roll correction and inclusion. It should be explicitly communicated that the exercise is not related to citizenship verification, and any field instructions must reflect this distinction," a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) delegation told the EC. Batting for the "presumption of inclusion", it said the voters who are alrea

Bihar electoral roll update stirs row ahead of polls: All you need to know

While the EC insists that the Special Intensive Revision of the voter list is aimed at ensuring electoral integrity, critics argue that it risks disenfranchisement among Bihar's marginalised groups

Voter ID cards to be delivered within 15 days under new EC regulations

The Election Commission of India said that electors will also receive notifications via SMS at each stage, keeping them informed about the status of their EPICs

CEC Kumar to speak on electoral integrity at IDEA Stockholm Conference

CEC Gyanesh Kumar will address the global IDEA Stockholm Conference on electoral integrity on 10 June, amid domestic concerns over the neutrality of the Election Commission of India

Aadhaar sharing for voters to remain voluntary; no legal changes planned

As the Election Commission works to purify electoral rolls of duplicate entries, sources in the government asserted on Tuesday that Aadhaar sharing by voters on a voluntary basis as prescribed in the law will remain unaltered. They underlined that sharing Aadhaar details with poll authorities is voluntary under the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 and it will continue to remain so. The sources also noted that there is no plan to tweak the law or related rules in this regard. They were responding to questions on whether there was a proposal to make Aadhaar sharing compulsory as also whether voters who don't share details will have to explain before poll authorities the reasons for not giving out details. They said the ground rules will remain unaltered and no provision is proposed to be added as of now. Amid a debate on the purity of electoral rolls, the Election Commission had said last month that the regular updating process of the voter list will be strengthened in close ...

EC holds nearly 5K meets with political representatives at various levels

Seeking to resolve the issues of political parties, the Election Commission has held nearly 5,000 meetings with their representatives at different levels across the country. In a span of 25 days, a total of 4,719 meetings were held, including 40 by state chief electoral officers (CEOs), 800 by district election officers, and 3,879 by electoral registration officers. The process involved engagements with over 28,000 representatives of political parties nationwide, the Election Commission (EC) said on Tuesday. The decision to hold the meetings was taken at a recent conference of CEOs held here. The engagements were aimed to resolve any pending issues by the concerned competent authority at different levels. An action taken report has been sought from all the states for further assessment. Any issue, if unresolved within the existing legal framework, will be taken up by the poll panel.