Imphal: With the general election to the Manipur Legislative Assembly 2022 nearing its poll date, all arrangements for dispersal of polling parties have been made, informed Manipur CEO Rajesh Agrawal on Thursday.
During the polls, webcasting/videography will be done in all polling stations and adequate CAPF will also be deployed, the CEO said.
ASHA and Anganwadi workers are engaged while two volunteers will also be engaged in each polling station to assist voters. Besides, voter assistance booth will be set up in all polling stations and provision for pick up/drop facilities for PwD and aged electors are made available with wheelchair facility being provided, the CEO added.
Also, to ensure safe voting for electors, all polling stations will be sanitised one day before the poll.
“Earmarking of circles and token system will be in place to avoid crowding in polling stations and adequate sanitiser, mask, glove, face shield, PPE kit, etc., will be provided to polling parties,” CEO said.
He further informed that during the silence period which starts 48 hours prior to close of poll, presence of political functionaries from outside the constituency will be restricted.
As per the CEO Manipur, election matters shall not to be telecast/broadcast in radio, TV or similar apparatus, while pre-certification by State/District MCMC is mandatory for publication of political advertisement in newspaper during the period. Public meetings and processions will also be prohibited.
On poll day, candidates will not canvass within 200 metres of polling station and candidates will also not allow to enter polling booth with security. No one will be allowed to carry mobile phones inside the polling booth, except for the Presiding Officer and Polling Officer-I, he added.
No person shall propagate any election matter to the public by holding, or by arranging the holding of any musical concert or any theatrical performance or any other entertainment or amusement with a view to attracting the public in any polling area.
Regarding identity proof for voting, the ECI has discontinued Photo Voter Slip as an identity proof with effect from February 28, 2019. Photo Voter Slip is no longer a standalone identity proof, it further said.
For identification at polling station, voter shall present her/his EPIC or any identification documents approved by the commission, which include Aadhaar Card, MNREGA Job Card, Passbooks with photograph issued by Bank/Post Office, Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour, Driving License, PAN Card, Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR, Indian Passport, Pension document with photograph, Service Identity Cards with photograph issued to employees by Central/State Govt./PSUs/Public Limited Companies and Official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs, along with the Voter Information Slips, it said.
Moreover, for making the upcoming elections inclusive, accessible and participative, provision of postal ballots (PB) had been made available.
He further informed that commissioning of EVMs for Phase-I has been completed while commissioning for phase-II will be completed on Thursday. New Symbol Loading Unit is used for the first time wherein symbol loading process is displayed through TV screens to representatives of candidates and political parties. To track the movement of EVMs Traccar App will be embedded in all mobile phones for polling teams and sector officers.
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