EC eases poll day rules: Mobile deposit at booths, voter slip kiosks allowed within 100m

NEW DELHI: You always want to take a selfie with your inked finger outside the polling station , only to remember that your phone had to be left behind at home or in your car parked at a distance, thanks to the ‘no-mobiles-allowed’ directive of the Election Commission ? Well, EC has now stepped forward to resolve this by providing a ‘mobile deposit facilty’ for voters at the polling station.

In another decision, EC on Thursday allowed candidates to set up kiosks for distributing voter information slips to electors, in case they are not carrying such slips issued by the commission, just beyond 100 meters from the polling station instead of beyond 200 metres earlier. “The move to rationalise the permissible norms canvassing in line with the electoral laws, that is, to 100 metres from entrance to the polling station, is aimed at improving election day facilitation. However, electioneering shall not be allowed within a 100-meter radius around the polling station on the day of poll,” said an EC spokesperson.

Commission officials on Friday said the new norms will kick in with the upcoming bypolls — including to Ludhiana West assembly in Punjab and the Visavadar and Kadi assembly seats in Gujarat — and shall be enforced in the Bihar assembly polls to be held later this year.

EC, under chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, has taken nearly 19 initiatives so far including training of field-level electoral officers and block level agents of political parties, and preparing training manuals for 28 different stakeholders. It has launched several measures to facilitate voters including merging 40 different EC apps into one single-point app and obtaining death data directly from the Registrar General of India.

Recognising the increasing coverage and usage of mobile phones in both urban and rural areas and the challenges faced by voters — particularly senior citizens, women, and persons with disabilities — electors in managing mobile phones on the poll day, the Commission on Friday said mobile phones will allowed within 100 meters of the polling station and that too in switched-off mode. Very simple pigeonhole boxes or jute bags shall be provided near the entrance door of the polling station where the voters would be required to deposit their mobile phones. However, certain Polling Stations can be exempted from this provision based on adverse local circumstances by the returning officer.