Maharashtra, Haryana, Arunachal Polls At A Glance  

 

Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh will go to the polls to elect their new Assemblies on October 13. Counting of votes will be done on Oct 22.

The terms of the  Assemblies of Arunachal Pradesh and

Maharashtra are due to expire on October 24 and November 3 respectively. The

Haryana assembly was dissolved by the Governor of Haryana on August 21.

 

Reserved Constiuencies:

Maharashtra : Total seats  288  Reserved seats for SC 29, Reserved for ST 25

Haryana           Total seats   90   Reserved seats for SC 17, Reserved for ST 0

Arunachal Pradesh Total seats 60  Reserved seats for SC 0, Reserved  for ST 59

 

Electoral Rolls

Electoral rolls of the three States were revised with reference to  1.1.2009 as the qualifying date before the Lok Sabha polls. Election Commission once again ordered a special summary revision of electoral roll in these States with the same qualifying date of 1st January, 2009. In case of Haryana, a special revision was again undertaken in two assembly constituencies Badshahpur and Gurgaon as there

were complaints about omission of names in the electoral roll used for conduct of Lok Sabha election. The electoral roll of these two constituencies have been finally published on  September 3.  Special revision was also ordered in 6 parts  of electoral roll of Faridabad NIT assembly constituency, 4 parts of Ballabgarh constituency and 3 parts of Tigaon assembly constituency to rectify the defects in the areas

As per final rolls, there are 7,50,575 voters  in Arunachal Pradesh, 1,20,63,257 (approximately) voters in Haryana

and 7,56,34,525 voters in  Maharashtra.

 

Photo Electoral Rolls

 Electoral Rolls now have photos of the majority of electors in the roll.  These photo electoral rolls will be used in these States during the assembly  elections for easy and correct identification of voters. Arunanchal  Pradesh has 87.00 %, Haryana 99 % and Maharashtra 73.28 % of electors with photographs in the rolls.

Polling Stations

There are 2,061 polling stations in Arunachal Pradesh, 12,894 in Haryana   and 82,028 in Maharashtra. For the facility of physically challenged persons, instructions have been issued to ensure that all polling stations as far as   practicable, are located at ground floor and ramps are provided. Facilitation shall   also be provided for locating elector’s name against a polling station or a group of   polling stations through help lines and facilitation centers.

Observers

Election Commission will deploy Observers in adequate number to ensure  smooth conduct of forthcoming General Elections in these States. The  Observers will be asked to keep a close watch on every stage of the electoral  process to ensure free and fair elections. Their names, addresses within the  district/constituency and their telephone numbers will be publicized in local  newspapers so that the general public can quickly approach them for any  grievance redressal. The Observers will be given a detailed briefing by the  Commission before their deployment.

Micro Observers

In addition to the General Observers, the Commission will also deploy Micro-Observers to observe the poll proceedings in the polling station on the poll  day in selective and critical polling stations. They will be chosen from the Central   Government/Central PSU officials. The Micro-Observers will observe the  proceedings on the poll day right from the mock poll to the completion of poll and  the process of sealing of EVMs and other documents to ensure that all instructions are complied with by the Polling Parties and the Polling Agents.  These micro-observers would directly work under control and supervision of the Observer. They will be tasked to ensure the purity of the polling process and will

report to the Observers directly about any observed vitiation of the poll  proceedings in their allotted polling stations for the Commission to take

appropriate instructions on the reports thus received. 

The Commission has already given instructions that no election related  official or Police officer of the rank of sub Inspector and above should continue in  his home district. Besides, instructions have also been issued that all the  election related officials including the police officials who have been there for  three years in a district during last four years should be transferred out of that  district. The governments of the States have also been asked to transfer all  those officers against whom the Commission has recommended disciplinary  action or who have been charged for any lapse during previous elections or for   any election related work, from positions entailing any election work.

Formation of Polling Parties through Randomization

 Polling parties shall be formed randomly, through special computerized  application software. Three-stage randomization will be adopted. First, from a  wider district database of eligible officials, a shortlist of about 120% of the  required numbers will be randomly picked. This group will be trained for polling  duties. In the second stage, from this trained manpower, actual polling parties as  are required shall be formed by random selection software in the presence of ECI  Observers. In the third randomization, the polling stations will be allocated  randomly, just before the polling party’s departure to the polling stations.

Videography

All critical events will be videographed. District Election Officers will  arrange sufficient number of video and digital cameras and camera teams for the purpose. The events for Videography will include filing of nomination, scrutiny thereof and allotment of symbols, preparations and storage thereafter of Electronic Voting Machines, important public meetings, processions etc. during campaign, process of dispatching of postal ballot papers, polling process in  identified vulnerable polling stations, storage of polled EVMs, counting of votes  etc. Digital cameras will also be deployed inside the booths wherever needed. The CDs of video recordings will be available on payment to anyone who wishes  to obtain copy of the same.

Model Code of Conduct

 The Model Code of Conduct  has  come into effect with the announcement of poll dates.  All the provisions of the Model Code will apply to the whole of the  three States and will be applicable to all candidates, political parties, the State  Governments concerned and the Union Government from today itself.

Election Commission has invited attention  of political parties and candidates  to the following  provisions of the Code:-

“There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing  votes. Mosques, Churches, Temples or other places of worship shall not

be used as forum for election propaganda.”