Bhubaneswar: Over 3.34 crore people including 1.69 crore male and 1.65 crore female are set to exercise their franchise in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha for which schedule was announced today.
Addressing media persons here, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Odisha, Nikunja Bihari Dhal said the elections will be held in Odisha in four different phases during May and June.
There will be 37,809 polling stations (4380 urban & 33,429 rural) spread over 30, 653 polling station locations in the State. Auxiliary polling stations will also be set up where the number of electors exceeds 1500, he said.
The District Election Officers have been instructed to ensure the availability of assured minimum facilities (AMFs) such as ramps, drinking water, Electricity connection, and separate toilet facilities for male and female in all these Polling Stations for the convenience and facilitation of voters, Dhal said.
As per the instruction of ECI, the Voters’ Assistance Booth will be set up in all polling stations to assist the voters.
Volunteers available in the district from NSS, Bharat Scouts and Guides, Student police cadets, etc. will be deployed in Polling Stations to assist the Senior Citizens /PWD / infirm voters, Shri Dhal said.
The CEO informed that about 60% of the total number of polling stations will be covered by webcasting on the day of the poll. Besides, other non-CAPF measures like deployment of Micro-observers, arrangements for videography and CCTV shall be undertaken to keep a watch on the polling process.
Further, about 20 percent of the total polling stations will be Model Polling Stations, which will include all-youth-managed polling stations, PWD-managed Polling stations, and around 10 percent Sakhi (all women-managed) polling stations. Special arrangement shall be made for the female polling personnel, he informed.
The Persons with Disabilities (PwD) & senior citizens above 85 years of age will be given priority for entering polling booths. Besides, they will be given free transport facilities as well as wheelchair (in the polling station) as per their application in Saksham App, CEO Shri Dhal said.
Apart from senior citizens (above 85 years of age), persons with disability and COVID-19-suspected or affected persons, voters on election duty will also be eligible to vote through postal ballot in the facilitation centers set up by the Returning Officers. For this, they will have to apply in the prescribed Form-12 within the stipulated time.
CEO Shri Dhal, who held a meeting with representatives from all political parties during the day, also said that ECI has issued elaborate guidelines for the filing of nomination papers.
At the time of filing nominations, candidates have to file affidavits relating to assets and liabilities of self and family members, Government dues pending, criminal antecedents, etc. including details of personal social media Accounts. The details would be disclosed/publicized as per ECI directions.
If the candidate has any criminal antecedent – either pending cases or cases in which the candidate has been convicted, then he shall have to publicize such details of his/her criminal case in newspaper and television channels thrice during the campaign period in the prescribed format.
With the announcement of the simultaneous General Elections, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force with immediate effect in the entire State. All the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct will apply to all candidates, political parties and, the State Government and the Union Government, he said.
Elaborate arrangements have been made for ensuring the effective implementation of the MCC Guidelines. Any violation of these Guidelines would be strictly dealt with. Citizens can report instances of MCC violation using the C-VIGIL App, the CEO said.
On election expenditure, he said, comprehensive instructions for effective monitoring of the election expenditure of the candidates have been issued to the District Election Officers. All concerned Central/State Enforcement Agencies have been asked to keep a close watch to ensure inducement (cash/liquor/freebies) free elections.
On election preparedness, the Chief Electoral Officer said that a sufficient number of EVM & VVPAT machines of M3 Model manufactured by Electronics Corporation of India Ltd are available in the State.
After the First Level Checking (FLC) those are kept in district EVM warehouses. EVM Awareness drive in physical mode had been conducted in the entire state during January-February, 2024 through Mobile Demonstration Van (MDV) and EVM Demonstration Centers (EDC) in which the Public participated and gained experience on EVM voting. More than 15 lakh persons had participated in the mock polls.
After the finalization of the list of contesting candidates, the Commissioning of EVMs will take place wherein, ballot papers will be installed on the Ballot Units
The representatives of all recognized political parties will participate in the 1st Randomization of EVMs and Candidates, or their representatives will be present during the Commissioning of the EVMs, he added.
The Chief Electoral Officer sought the active cooperation of all the stakeholders in the electoral process for ensuring smooth, free, fair, peaceful, participative & festive elections.
All the Government officers and all contractual para workers who are substantially paid from the public exchequer (AWW, CRP, MBK, etc) have to maintain absolute impartiality and ensure level playing field for all political parties and candidates. They must not work in any manner, directly or indirectly to further the interest of any candidate/political party. Stringent action shall be taken against them for acting in partisan manner, he warned.
All Government servants associated with conduct of elections are deemed to be on deputation to ECI.
