Page 41 - Election Commission

Pakistan's EC to set up 90,675 polling stations for 128 million voters

Pakistan's election commission has unveiled the final polling scheme for the February 8 polls under which it will set up 90,675 polling stations for the 128 million voters, according to a media report on Saturday. The final polling scheme was announced by the election body, weeks after twice failing to comply with the legal deadline to announce the plan at least 30 days ahead of the election, the Dawn newspaper reported. Section 59 (6) of the Elections Act 2017 requires the publication of the final list of polling stations of each constituency, at least 30 days before polling day, in the official gazette as well as the website of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The plan unveiled by the ECP on Friday outlines the distribution of polling stations across all four provinces and the federal capital, categorising them as normal, sensitive, or highly sensitive based on the security situation and electoral violence history. "A total of 90,675 polling stations with 276,402 pollin

Republic Day parade: EC tableau presents India as 'Mother of Democracy'

The Election Commission's Republic Day parade tableau on Friday rolled down the Kartavya Path showcasing "India--Mother of Democracy". The Lok Sabha election is considered the world's biggest peacetime logistics exercise of movement of people and material. The tableau depicts the conduct of free, fair, inclusive, accessible and participative elections in the country. The front of the tableau shows an inked finger pressing a button to cast a vote on an electronic voting machine (EVM). It also depicts the magnitude of the parliamentary elections, which is due shortly and in which nearly 96 crore people will be eligible to cast their vote in 12 lakh polling stations. Nearly 1.5 crore personnel will be deployed for conducting polling. People from different sections of society have been depicted standing in a queue, showcasing the cultural diversity of the country. In the rear portion of the tableau, the Election Commission's effort towards "No voter to be left behind" has been showca

SC grants protection from arrest to Umar Ansari in Violation of MCC case

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted protection from arrest to Umar Ansari, son of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, in a criminal case registered against him during the 2022 assembly elections for alleged violation of the model code of conduct. A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and P K Mishra issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on his plea challenging the Allahabad High Court order. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Ansari, submitted that the main accused has been granted regular bail in the matter. The Allahabad High Court on December 19 last year had rejected the anticipatory bail application of Ansari, and said that looking at the facts and circumstances of the case, the offence is made out. An FIR was lodged on March 4, 2022 at Kotwali police station in Mau district against Abbas Ansari (SBSP candidate from Mau Sadar seat), Umar Ansari and 150 unknown people. It was alleged in the FIR that on March 3, 2022 at Pahadpura ground, Abbas Ansari, Umar

National Voters' Day: Election Commission marks 75 years of service today

The National Voters' Day is observed annually on January 25 to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission. The EC is a constitutional body, which overlooks the conduct of elections in India

National Voters' Day: Cong hits out at EC for refusing to meet INDIA bloc

The Congress on Thursday criticised the Election Commission on the National Voters' Day for refusing to meet INDIA bloc leaders on its demand for greater use of VVPATs in polls, terming it as an "injustice" that strikes at the very foundations of democracy. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also said that the National Voters' Day reaffirms the power of the people to determine their own destiny by exercising the freedom to elect their own representatives. In a post on X, AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said every year January 25 is celebrated as the National Voters' Day by the Election Commission of India. But sadly, this independent institution has been simply refusing to meet a delegation of leaders belonging to the INDIA bloc who only want to put across their point of view on the greater use of VVPATs when voters cast their vote, he said. "VVPAT is nothing but Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail. This persistent refusal of the ECI is an ANYAY that strikes at the very ...

Delhi's chief electoral officer rejects speculation over LS poll dates

The internal note circulated by the office of Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer with April 16 as the tentative "poll date" to help officials schedule various activities "in the build-up" to elections

Kerala has 575,000 new voters in list ahead of LS elections, says state CEO

Kerala has enrolled 5,74,175 new voters into the final voter list for the upcoming general elections and removed 3.75 lakh voters to clean up the final list, State Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kaul said on Tuesday. Kaul said that those who could not add their names to the voter list yet could do so before the elections and requested people who have not enrolled themselves to come forward and make use of this opportunity. Talking to the media here, the CEO said that the commission had done commendable work to clean up the voters' list with officials at the booth level visiting each house and collecting details regarding deaths. Based on the information collected, 3,75,867 names were removed from the voters' list, he said. A draft list was published on October 27, 2023 and the Commission received complaints from the voters before finalising the list, Kaul said. With the addition of 5,74,175 new voters, the total number of voters in Kerala has now become 2,70,99,326, with 1,39,96,7

Final electoral roll of J-K published with total of 8.69 million voters

The final electoral roll of Jammu and Kashmir has been published with the addition of more than 2.31 lakh voters, officials said. The final electoral roll has a total of 86.93 lakh voters -- 44.34 lakh males, 42.58 lakh females, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Jammu and Kashmir Pandurang K Pole said on Monday. The release of the electoral roll paves the way for holding of various polls in the Union Territory. "The final electoral rolls have been published here today in all polling stations, offices of electoral registration officers, district election officers and hosted on the website of CEO registering an addition of 2.31 lakh new voters," an official spokesman said. According to the CEO, 86,000 names have been deleted because of death, shifting or other reasons besides correction in details of 1.45 lakh electors during the process. "As of now, there are 86.93 lakh electors including 44.35 lakh male and 42.58 lakh female voters. The elector population ratio has improved from 0.

Andhra Pradesh has 40.8 mn voters as per final electoral rolls 2024

The Election Commission on Monday published the final Special Summary Revision (SSR) of Electoral Rolls of Andhra Pradesh, pegging the total number of voters at 4.08 crore. Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Mukesh Kumar Meena said there are 2,00,74,322 male voters and 2,07,29,452 crore female voters in the state. There are 67,434 service electors and 3,482 third gender voters. The final electoral roll rose to 4,08,07,256 voters from 4,02,21,450 counted in the draft roll, he said. Following the rationalisation of upper limit of voters per polling station at 1,500, the total number of polling stations rose to 46,165 from 45,951 Accordingly, draft electoral rolls were published on October 27, 2023 as per the rationalized polling stations and claims and objections were received till December 9, 2023. After the disposal of these claims and objections, final electoral rolls have been published on January 22, 2024, said Meena in a press release. According to the CEO, 22,38,952

EC publishes Uttarakhand's final electoral roll with 8.24 mn voters

The final electoral roll of Uttarakhand published by the Election Commission of India on Monday showed a total voter count of 82,43,423 in the state. Of the total electorate, 42,70,597 are males, 39,72,540 are females and 286 third gender voters, according to the published data. Sharing the electoral roll figures at press conference here, Uttarakhand Chief Electoral Officer V Shanmugham said there are a total of 93,357 service voters in Uttarakhand, including 90,763 men and 2,594 women. The highest number of voters were recorded in the 30-39 age group at 22,44,926, followed by 17,04,523 electors in the 40-49 age group, 16,59,290 in 20-29 age group, 11,86,686 in 50-59 years. A total of 7,50,563 voters are in the 60-69 age group, 4,14,114 aged 70-79 years, 1,54,259 voters aged above 80 years, and 129,062 in 18-19 age cohort, he said. There are 11,729 polling stations in the state, of which 3,461 are in urban areas, while 8,268 in rural areas.

EC publishes final electoral rolls 2024 for Karnataka with 53.7 mn voters

The Election Commission (EC) on Monday published the 2024 final electoral rolls for 224 constituencies of Karnataka with a total electorate of 5,37,85,815, the data shared by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer showed. According to the Draft Electoral Rolls-2024, the total number of general electors was 5,33,77,162, comprising 2,68,02,838 male electors, 2,65,69,428 female electors, and 4,896 other electors. In the Final Electoral Rolls-2024, the total general electors increased to 5,37,85,815. This includes 2,69,33,750 male electors, 2,68,47,145 female electors, and 4,920 other electors. "The net increase in total electors compared to the draft roll is 4,08,653, with a significant rise in female electors by 2,77,717, male electors by 1,30,912, and other electors by 24," the EC said. According to the EC, among the 224 Legislative Assembly constituencies, Bengaluru South in Bengaluru Urban district has the highest number of electors at 7,17,201. Conversely, Sringeri in ...

Election Commission releases final summary rolls, TN has 61.8 mn voters

Tamil Nadu has an electorate strength of 6,18,90,348 with women voters outnumbering men as per the integrated final electoral roll of the special summary revision, 2024, released on Monday here. The final published electoral roll had reference to January 1, 2024 as the qualifying date, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Satyabrata Sahoo said. Of the total electorate, male voters are 3,03,96,330, female voters constitute 3,14,85,724 and the third gender 8,294. The Shozhinganallur Assembly constituency in Chengalpattu district has the highest number of electors with 6,60,419 (male 3,30,522, female 3,29,783, third gender 114), followed by Kavundampalayam Assembly constituency in Coimbatore district which has 4,62,612 electors (male 2,29,950, female 2,32,538, third gender 124). The Kilvelur Assembly constituency in Nagapattinam district with 1,72,140 electors (male 84,702, female 87,435, third gender: 3) has the least number of voters followed by Harbour Assembly constituency in Chennai ...

Pak court asks EC to re-allocate cricket bat symbol to Imran Khan's party

In a major relief for Imran Khan's party ahead of general elections, a high court on Wednesday declared as unconstitutional the election commission's decision revoking the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party's cricket bat' electoral symbol and rejecting its intra-party polls. The Peshawar High Court (PHC) also directed the electoral body to allocate the jailed premier's party its iconic bat' electoral symbol back and upload the party's certificate of internal elections on its website, Dawn newspaper reported. "The PTI is entitled to bat' and should be given the same as its electoral symbol, the court ruled. The judgement, which was reserved earlier in the day, was announced by a two-member bench comprising Justice Ejaz Anwar and Justice Syed Arshad Ali on a petition jointly filed by PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali and six other leaders requesting the court to declare the ECP order as illegal and without jurisdiction. On December 22, the Election Commission of Pakistan decided against ...

Andhra polls: EC committed to inducement-free elections, says CEC Kumar

Asserting that the Election Commission is committed to conduct transparent and inducement-free polls, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday said instructions have been issued to officials to deal sternly with all offenders. Addressing a press conference here, Kumar said the commission has emphasised and given clear and firm directions to election machinery and the entire bureaucracy to be impartial, transparent and accessible to all stakeholders. He said the EC team has met several political parties who have made several requests ranging from curbing of cash distribution to influencing votes and strict enforcement for inducement-free elections. "It is not that you take action against only the small handlers of the liquor, those who are carrying it. Go to the kingpins who are the organisers of crime. Similarly, there would be a strict watch on cash through banks, by the wallets, by the UPI, whatever mode it gets transported," he said. All the airports including airstr

LS polls: CEC, ECs to visit Andhra Pradesh Monday to review preparations

The chief election commissioner and the two election commissioners will visit Andhra Pradesh on Monday to conduct a review of the state's preparedness for the Lok Sabha polls, due in April-May, officials said. The assembly elections in the state are likely to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel will be in Andhra Pradesh on January 8 evening, officials said. According to an earlier plan, the poll panel was to visit Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh from January 7 to 10. The plan has been revised and the poll panel will visit Tamil Nadu later to review the state's preparedness for the Lok Sabha polls. A team of deputy election commissioners and other senior officers has visited almost all the states to oversee the preparations for the Lok Sabha polls. It is usual for the CEC and ECs to tour states ahead of assembly or Lok Sabha elections to meet political parties, senior pol

SC to consider listing PILs challenging promise of pre-poll freebies

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider listing of the pleas challenging the political parties' practice of promising pre-election freebies to voters. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was urged by senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, appearing for one of the PIL petitioners, that the matters are part-heard and needed to be adjudicated upon. "We will see it," the CJI said. A bench headed by CJI UU Lalit, since retired, had on November 1, 2022, said that the PILs can be heard by a three-judge bench as directed. The pleas including the one filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay opposed promises of such handouts by the parties during polls. The petitions have also sought the Election Commission invokes its powers to freeze the election symbols of these parties and cancel their registration to ensure that the practice of promising pre-election freebies is no longer in existence.

EC dismisses Jairam Ramesh's concerns on VVPATs, asserts full faith in EVMs

Dismissing Congress leader Jairam Ramesh's concerns on the VVPATs, the Election Commission on Friday said that it raised "no new assertions or reasonable and legitimate doubts which require further clarifications", adding the rules governing paper slips were introduced by the grand old party-led government in 2013. In a communication to Ramesh, the poll body also expressed "full faith in the use of the EVMs in the elections" and made it clear that the latest updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) answer "adequately and comprehensively" all reasonable and legitimate aspects on the use of the EVMs in the Indian elections. "Rule 49A and 49M of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, governing VVPAT and handling of paper slips was introduced by INC (Indian National Congress) on 14th August, 2013," said the letter signed by Pramod Kumar Sharma, Principal Secretary in the Election Commission. Ramesh had written to the Election Commission on December 30 last year, requesting that a ...

EC to start reviewing LS polls preparations, will visit states from Jan 7

The Election Commission (EC) will start reviewing preparedness of states for the Lok Sabha elections with a visit to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu next week. The Commission led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and comprising Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel will be in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu between January 7 and 10. Ahead of the visit, deputy election commissioners will brief the full commission about the preparations in the two states on January 6. The deputy election commissioners have visited almost all the states to oversee the preparation for the Lok Sabha polls. It is usual for the EC to tour states ahead of assembly or Lok Sabha elections to meet political parties, senior police and administrative officials and its ground poll machinery. It is, however, not yet certain whether the EC will visit all the states and union territories. It may skip states where assembly polls were held recently. In 2019, the Lok Sabha elections were anno

As it finalises preparations for LS polls, EC to visit states from Jan 7

The Election Commission (EC) will start reviewing preparedness of states for the Lok Sabha elections with a visit to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu next week. The commission led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and comprising Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel will be in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu between January 7 and 10. Ahead of the visit, deputy election commissioners will brief the full commission about the preparations in the two states on January 6. The deputy election commissioners have visited almost all the states to oversee the preparation for the Lok Sabha polls. It is usual for the EC to tour states ahead of assembly or Lok Sabha elections to meet political parties, senior police and administrative officials and its ground poll machinery. It is, however, not yet certain whether the EC will visit all the states and union territories. It may skip states where assembly polls were held recently. In 2019, the Lok Sabha elections were anno

Election Commission to release final voters' list of Bengal in January

The Election Commission of India (ECI) will release the final voters' list of West Bengal early next month, a senior official said on Saturday. Once the list is published, the poll panel will send its full bench to the state, he said, adding that communications have been sent to the chief secretary and chief electoral officer (CEO) asking them to start preparations for the Lok Sabha polls. "The final list will be published early next month followed by the visit of the full bench of ECI to the state. We have directed the chief secretary and CEO of West Bengal to start preparations for the 2024 general elections," he told PTI. A top bureaucrat said the poll panel has directed the chief secretary to prepare a list of administrative officials (IAS officers) and police officers (IPS and WBPS) detailing their current postings and the duration of their stay in the particular position. "Preparing lists of IAS and IPS officers mentioning their current postings before any election is routine