Page 18 - Election Commission

Why can't social media platforms block or label fakes, asks CEC Rajiv Kumar

He said election management bodies must devise and adopt a framework to manage these challenges

Delhi Police blocking AAP complaints against BJP: Atishi writes to EC

Delhi elections 2025: AAP alleges police collusion in intimidation case, calls for transfers of accused officials

EC used power of technology to strengthen people's power, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the Election Commission on Sunday, saying it has used the power of technology to strengthen people's power and also shown commitment to a fair polling process. Modi's praise for the poll body in his monthly Mann ki Baat broadcast came ahead of its foundation day on January 25, observed as the National Voters' Day, and amid frequent criticism from the opposition for its alleged pro-BJP bias. The EC has modernised and strengthened the election process from time to time, Modi asserted. "It has used power of technology to strengthen people's power," he said, asking people to participate in the polling process in large numbers to be part of democratic process and empowering it. Opposition parties have increasingly raised questions on the integrity of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), and Modi's remarks can be seen as an endorsement of the EVMs. The prime minister said doubts were cast on India's viability as a democracy after it became independent,

ECI urges political parties for responsible use of AI in campaigning

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has consistently cautioned against the potential of AI and deep fakes

EC approves transfer of AAP candidate Ojha's voter ID to Delhi: Kejriwal

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has approved the transfer of AAP leader Awadh Ojha's name from the voter rolls in Greater Noida to Delhi, enabling him to file his nomination from Patparganj seat, party chief Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday. The development came after a delegation of AAP, led by Kejriwal, met ECI officials to address the issue. "The good news is that Awadh Ojha's vote will be shifted, and the commission has issued an order to transfer his vote. He will be able to file the nomination," Kejriwal said. Earlier in the day, Kejriwal alleged irregularities in the electoral process, claiming that Ojha had filed Form 8 to transfer his vote on January 7, ?the official deadline. He also accused the Delhi chief electoral officer of unlawfully advancing the deadline to January 6. Kejriwal said the move was an attempt to "deliberately debar" Ojha from contesting the February 5 Delhi Assembly elections, saying it was against the law. The former Delhi chief minister also m

MP, Karnataka, Maharashtra among states seeing higher women voter turnout

Women-centric schemes fuel 18 mn surge in female voter turnout

'Will fight polls only from New Delhi', Kejriwal shoots down BJP's claim

Quashing BJP leaders' claims that he would contest the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections from a second seat out of fear of losing from New Delhi, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said he will contest the polls from one seat only. Kejriwal also asserted that the Assembly polls are not an INDA bloc affair as there is a direct contest between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi. A three-time sitting MLA from New Delhi since 2013, Kejriwal this time is locked in an intense triangular contest against the sons of two former chief ministers of Delhi. While the BJP has fielded former chief minister Sahib Singh Verma's son Parvesh Verma, Congress has given ticket to Sandeep Dikshit whose mother Sheila Dikshit was a three-term chief minister of Delhi. "I am contesting one seat only," Kejriwal said at a press conference when asked about BJP's claims that he was going to fight from a second seat out of fear of losing from New Delhi. The AAP leader's ..

Difficult to define a freebie, our 'hands tied': CEC Rajiv Kumar

Delhi elections on Feb 5, counting on Feb 8

Watch: Delhi election dates announced by CEC Rajiv Kumar

Assembly polls in Delhi will be held on February 5 and the votes counted on February 8, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced on Tuesday.

EC defends rule change curbing release of polling booth CCTV footage

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday defended the recent amendment to election rules restricting CCTV footage of polling booths from public inspection, saying it is meant to protect voters' privacy and prevent use of data for creating fake narratives. Based on Election Commission's recommendation, the government had last month tweaked an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV camera footage of polling stations to prevent misuse. In his first remarks on tweak of Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, Kumar said only sharing of CCTV footage from inside and outside polling booths have been restricted. Addressing a press conference here to announce the schedule for Delhi Assembly polls, he said such data or footage was banned for public inspection through EC's instructions in 2024. He said certain other documents which are allowed under Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules will continue to be available. Some documents which

Will detox, go to Himalayas: CEC Rajiv Kumar on post-retirement plans

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday revealed his intention to "detoxify" himself and spend several months in solitude in the Himalayas post his retirement next month. Responding to a question while addressing a presser to announce the Delhi Assembly elections, he shared his post-retirement plans with an introspective touch. "I will detoxify myself for the next four-five months, go to the deep Himalayas, be away from the glare of all of you. I need some 'ekant' (solitude) and 'swadhyay' (self-study)," Kumar, who is set to retire on February 18, said. In October last year, Kumar was rescued from the remote Ralam village in Uttarkhand's Pithoragarh district following an emergency helicopter landing due to inclement weather and left stranded at over 12,000 feet. Kumar, a 1984-batch IAS officer from the Bihar/Jharkhand cadre, also shared a personal aspiration to give back to society by teaching underprivileged children. He recounted his humble beginnings, studying

'No room for manipulation': ECI chief on Kejriwal's 'voter deletion' charge

'Draft rolls are sent to political parties on January 1, and they are given the opportunity to raise claims and objections,' CEC Rajiv Kumar said

Election Commission to announce Delhi poll schedule at 2 pm today

The Election Commission will on Tuesday announce the schedule for polls to the Delhi Legislative Assembly. The Commission has convened a press conference at 2 pm on Tuesday to announce the election schedule. The term of the 70-member Assembly ends on February 23, and elections have to held before that to constitute a new House. Delhi has traditionally seen assembly polls in a single phase.

Only 27% of registered third gender electors voted in 2024 LS polls: EC

More people enrolled themselves in the voters' list for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the 'third gender' category but only 27 per cent of them turned up at the polling stations, according to Election Commission data. According to the data issued by the poll authority last week, 48,194 people were eligible to vote as third gender elector in 2024, compared to 39,075 in 2019 -- an increase of 23.5 per cent over the five-year period. But only 13,058 of them actually exercised their franchise, which comes to 27 per cent of the total registered third gender electors. As per the data, Tamil Nadu had the highest number of registered third gender elector -- 8,467. But only 2,709 cast vote. Their overall participation in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was 14.64 per cent -- almost half as compared to the latest parliamentary polls. There have been reports that several enrolled third gender voters have expressed reluctance to queue up at polling booths, claiming that they are viewed with dis

28% of Lok Sabha seats had no woman candidate in 2024, shows ECI report

The highlight of the 2024 LS election was again the better turnout of woman electors in percentage terms than men

EC data on LS polls: Women outshine men again in exercising franchise

As many as 64.64 crore voters exercised their franchise in the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year with women voters outnumbering men, according to statistical data released by the Election Commission on Thursday. The female voter turnout stood at 65.78 per cent as compared to 65.55 per cent for male electors, the EC said. EC functionaries asserted that such granular data is not shared by any of the election management bodies in democracies across the world. The data on Lok Sabha polls, 2024 and four assembly elections -- Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh -- held alongside parliamentary polls comes against the backdrop of allegations of non-disclosure by the EC. "This suo motu initiative is to enhance the public trust that constitutes the underpinning of India's electoral system," the EC said. Referring to women participation in the polls, EC said the number of female contesting candidates was 800, compared to 726 in 2019. Maharashtra had the highest number

86% of 8,300 candidates who contested LS polls lost deposit: EC report

As many as 86 per cent of the over 8,300 candidates who contested the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year lost their deposits. According to the statistical data issued by the Election Commission on Thursday, a total of 12,459 nominations were filed in 2024, compared to 11,692 in 2019. Out of the over 12,000 who filed nominations, 8,360 qualified as contesting candidates after rejection of nominations and withdrawals across the country. The number of contesting candidates in 2019 Lok Sabha elections was 8,054. According to the data, 7,190 of the candidates lost their deposits, which comes to 86 per cent. Of the 7,190 who lost their deposit, 584 were from the six recognised parties, 68 from recognised state parties, 2,633 from registered, unrecognised political parties and 3,095 independent candidates. In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, 6923 candidates had lost deposit. A total of 3921 independent candidates had contested but only seven were elected. The vote share in percentage terms po

6 national parties bag over 63% of vote share in 2024 LS polls: EC report

The six national parties bagged over 63 per cent share of the total valid votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections held this year. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and National People's Party (NPP) are the six national parties. Besides the six recognised national parties, 47 recognised state parties and 690 registered, unrecognised political parties contested the parliamentary polls, according to statistical data issued by the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday. According to the data, 3,921 independent candidates contested but only seven of them were elected. Besides, 3,905 independent candidates forfeited the deposits. Their vote share stood at 2.79 per cent of the total valid votes. Out of the 3,921 independent candidates, 279 were women, the EC noted. The none of the above (NOTA) option got 63,71,839 or 0.99 per cent votes in 2024 compared to 1.06 per cent in 2019. Over 9

No arbitrary addition, deletion in voters list in Maha: EC to Congress

Amid concerns flagged by the Congress, the Election Commission on Tuesday said there were no arbitrary additions or deletions of voters in Maharashtra where assembly polls were held recently. In its response to the Congress, the poll authority said it would not be correct to compare 5 PM voter turnout data with final polling data. It also explained how increase in voter turnout from 5 PM to 11:45 PM was normal, being part of the process of aggregation of voter turnout and how there can be bona fide but inconsequential differences in votes polled and votes counted. The EC asserted that it is impossible to change actual voter turnout as statutory Form 17C giving details of voter turnout is available with authorised agents of candidates at the time of close of poll at the polling station itself. It said rule-based process was followed with transparency in Maharashtra electoral roll preparation and there were no irregular pattern in voter deletions in the state. It told the Congress t

Why is ECI afraid of transparency, asks Cong after election rule tweak

The Congress on Saturday hit out at the Election Commission for tweaking an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV camera and webcasting footage, asking why the poll panel was afraid of transparency. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the party would legally challenge amendment. "If there was ever a vindication of our assertions regarding the rapidly eroding integrity of the electoral process managed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in recent times, this is it," Ramesh said in a post on X. Sharing a December 20 notification, the Congress leader said, "This move of the ECI will be challenged legally right away." The government has tweaked an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV camera and webcasting footage as well as video recordings of candidates to prevent their misuse. Based on the recommendation of the poll panel, the Union law minist