Page 13 - Election Commission Of India

Rajya Sabha polls for 4 J-K seats vacant since 2021 on Oct 24: EC

Biennial elections to fill four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir, which have been lying vacant since 2021, will be held on October 24, the Election Commission said on Wednesday. Separately, Rajya Sabha bypoll to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of AAP member from Punjab Sanjeev Arora will also be held on October 24. He had resigned following his election to the Punjab assembly. His Rajya Sabha term was to otherwise end on April 9, 2028. The Rajya Sabha elections for the four Jammu and Kashmir seats are being held nearly a year after the assembly polls were held in the union territory. MLAs elect Rajya Sabha members of their respective states. The union territory has been unrepresented in the Upper House of Parliament since February 15, 2021, the day when Ghulam Nabi Azad and Nazir Ahmed Laway finished their term. Two other members, Fayaz Ahmed Mir and Shamsheer Singh Manhas, had completed their term on February 10, the same year. While announcing the schedule

EC asks state poll officers to get ready for SIR rollout by Sept 30

The Election Commission has asked its state election officers to be ready for the SIR by September 30, in an indication that the poll authority could launch the voter list cleanup exercise as early as October-November. According to officials, at a conference of state chief electoral officers (CEOs) here earlier this month, the EC top brass asked them to be ready for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) rollout in the next 10 to 15 days. But for the sake of greater clarity, the deadline of September 30 was set. The CEOs have been told to keep voter lists of their states, published after the last SIR, ready. Several state CEOs have already put up the voter lists published after their last SIR on their websites. The website of the Delhi CEO has the voter list from 2008, when the last intensive revision took place in the national capital. In Uttarakhand, the last SIR took place in 2006 and the electoral roll from that year is now on the state CEO's website. The last SIR in states wil

Rahul Gandhi accuses EC of withholding data from CID in Karnataka vote row

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused the Election Commission of India of not providing information sought by the Karnataka CID regarding the alleged 'vote chori' in that state. Rahul, who arrived in Wayanad on Friday along with his mother Sonia Gandhi, told reporters here that Karnataka CID has sent several letters to the EC seeking information about the numbers used in the 'vote chori', but the poll panel is not providing it. Gyanesh Kumar is the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and he is not providing the information sought by the police, the Congress MP claimed. "There can be no bigger indictment of the CEC than this. The police is asking for information, and he is not providing it. This is not my statement. It is a fact. It is there in black and white," he said. Rahul further said that the Congress will show evidence of the alleged 'vote chori' "in such a manner that no one will have any doubt that PM Narendra Modi did it and won the election". "We are going to reveal

Rahul takes a dig at ECI with Karnataka data, repeats 'vote chori' charge

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday reiterated his "vote chori" allegations and took a swipe at the Election Commission, calling it an "election watchman" who "stayed awake, watched the theft, and protected the thieves". His remarks came a day after he ramped up his attack on the issue of vote theft, accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting those who "destroyed democracy". To buttress his allegation, he cited data from a Karnataka assembly constituency to claim that votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted. The Election Commission dubbed the allegations "incorrect and baseless" and said. "No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Gandhi." In a post in Hindi on X on Friday, Gandhi said, "Wake up at 4 a.m. Eliminate two voters in 36 seconds, Then go back to sleep - this is how vote theft happens!" "Chunaav ka chawkidaar jaagta raha, chori dekhta raha, choron ko bachata raha (The electi

Rahul Gandhi sharpens attack on EC; claims baseless says poll body

Rahul Gandhi alleges the Election Commission obstructed the Karnataka CID probe into an organised attempt to delete votes using automated software and says targeted deletions hit Aland

Explained: What is the process of voter deletion in India and how it works

Rahul Gandhi alleged that elections are being rigged through software-driven fraud. Here's a look at India's voter deletion rules and safeguards to prevent arbitrary removal of names from the rolls

Who is ECI shielding?: Kharge questions after Rahul's voter deletion charge

Kharge asked who the EC has been shielding to allow for alleged vote theft, asked if the BJP is 'hollowing' out institutions meant to protect democracy

Allegations 'incorrect and baseless': ECI hits back at Rahul Gandhi

The leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had accused Kumar of protecting those responsible for destroying Indian democracy

Rahul Gandhi accuses CEC of shielding those who 'destroyed democracy'

At a press conference, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha alleged systemic voter manipulation targeting opposition supporters, Dalits, and minorities

Bihar elections: EVMs get a makeover; coloured candidate pics, bolder font

The ECI said that the upgraded ballot papers will be deployed in the upcoming elections, beginning with Bihar, which is scheduled to take place later this year

Over half voters in most states may not have documents in SIR: EC officials

More than half the electorate in most of the states may not have to provide any document as they will be covered in the electoral roll of the last special intensive revision (SIR) held in their states, Election Commission officials said on Wednesday. They pointed out that most states had the last special intensive revision of the voters' list between 2002 and 2004. That year will be considered their cutoff date for the next SIR. The Election Commission will soon decide on the date to roll out special intensive revision pan-India, and the exercise to clean up the voter list across states may take place before the end of the year, officials had earlier said. Chief electoral officers have been told to keep the electoral rolls of their states, published after the previous SIR, ready. Some state CEOs have already put up the voter list published after their last SIR on their websites. The website of the Delhi CEO has the 2008 voter list when the last intensive revision took place in the

EC should have probed instead of using offensive words for Rahul: Ex-CEC

Coming down hard on the Election Commission for its response on "vote theft" allegations, former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi on Sunday said the poll body should have ordered a probe into Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's charges instead of "shouting" at him in a language that was "objectionable and offensive". In an interview with PTI, Quraishi said much of the terms used by Gandhi while making the allegations such as likening them to a "hydrogen bomb" were "political rhetoric" but asserted that the complaints which he was raising need to be investigated in detail. The former chief election commissioner slammed the Election Commission (EC) over the manner in which it carried out the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, and said it is not only "opening a pandora's box" but the poll body has put its hand in the "hornet's nest" which will hurt it. The EC has rejected all the allegations of "vote theft" in the past. It has also all along maintaine

Kerala Election Commission to meet political parties on SIR of voter lists

Lauding 100 per cent digital literacy in the state, CEO Kelkar said that the exercise will be "easy" and will be conducted with the support of the stakeholders, including public, media, and parties

Why the Supreme Court is right to question ECI's voter review in Bihar

The court has correctly stepped in to point out that, under the law as written, a unique ID must be accepted as proof of identity, more so as the ECI plans a countrywide SIR

ECI may launch nationwide electoral roll revision in October: Report

The official announcement for the Special Intensive Revision may be made before polling in Bihar concludes, according to an India Today report

EC top brass reviews pan-India SIR preparedness with state poll machinery

A crucial meeting of the Election Commission with its state officials is underway to discuss preparations for a pan-India roll out of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. While senior EC officials are expected to make a presentation on the SIR policy of the Commission, the chief electoral officer of Bihar would share the state's experience in implementing SIR. This is the third meeting of CEOs after Gyanesh Kumar took over as the chief election commissioner in February. However, Wednesday's day-long meeting assumes significance as the preparedness of a pan-India SIR are being discussed, officials said. The Commission has said that after Bihar, SIR will be carried out in the entire country. There are indications that the exercise would commence later this year ahead of assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in 2026. The primary aim of the intensive revision is to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of ..

Accept Aadhaar card as 12th document: EC tells Bihar poll authority

The Election Commission has asked its Bihar poll machinery to accept Aadhaar card as an additional document to establish the identity of electors following the Supreme Court's directives. In a letter to the state Chief Electoral Officer on Tuesday, the Commission said "The Aadhaar card shall be treated as the 12th document, in addition to the 11 documents listed..." The EC made it clear that the Aadhaar card is to be accepted and utilised as a "proof of identity and not as a proof of citizenship", in terms of Section 9 of the Aadhaar (Delivery of Financial And Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act. Under Section 23(4) of the Representation of People Act, 1950, the Aadhaar Card is already one of the documents enumerated for the purpose of establishing the identity of a person. The poll panel also cautioned that "any instance of non-compliance or refusal to accept Aadhaar in accordance with this directive shall be treated with utmost seriousness". The Supreme Court on Monday .

Priyank Kharge seeks court-monitored audit, hackathon of EVM-VVPAT process

Karnataka's Minister for Information Technology Priyank Kharge has said that the state is ready to host a transparent evaluation of the entire EVMVVPAT process in partnership with judicial and industry oversight. Kharge had posted a copy of the letter he had written to the Election Commission of India again on September 6 on the social media platform X on Monday. In his letter, Kharge said he had written to the ECI on December 3, 2024, as well, outlining concerns regarding the function of EVMs and related procedural vulnerabilities, and suggesting a "constructive solution" in the form of a court-monitored ethical hackathon and audit, backed by the state. "With our strong technology and R&D ecosystem, I had proposed that Karnataka is well placed to carry out such a transparent exercise under judicial and industry oversight to rigorously test the EVM architecture and address public perception issues around electoral integrity," read the letter. He also said that on several ...

Shashi Tharoor calls EC's SIR exercise 'essential', urges transparency

Tharoor stressed that maintaining the credibility of the Election Commission was crucial and that any legitimate concerns raised by the opposition should be addressed fairly

EC to review nationwide voters list revision with state election officials

The Election Commission top brass will discuss the preparedness of pan-India rollout of special intensive revision of voters' list with its state representatives next week, officials said Saturday. The poll authority has convened a meeting of its state chief electoral officers on Wednesday, officials said. This is the third meeting of CEOs after Gyanesh Kumar took over as the chief election commissioner in February. But the September 10 meeting assumes significance as the preparedness of a pan-India special intensive revision will be discussed, officials said. The Commission has said that after Bihar, the special revision will be carried out in the entire country. There are indications that the exercise would commence later this year ahead of assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in 2026. The primary aim of the intensive revision is to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth. The move assumes significance in the wa