India celebrates world’s biggest festival of democracy with 1st phase voting for General Elections tomorrow
Culmination of two years of rigorous preparations
Commission calls upon voters to come out and vote
102 Lok Sabha seats, 16.63 crore voters, 1.87 lakh polling stations, 18 lakh
personnel in phase 1
The Election Commission of India has made all preparations to welcome
voters to the biggest festival of democracy that any nation has witnessed, the
elections to the 18th Lok
Sabha and Legislative Assemblies in four states that starts off tomorrow with
Phase 1. On this occasion, the Commission also reiterates its uncompromising
commitment to deliver a free, fair, peaceful, accessible, participative and
inducement free poll.
The Commission and its teams
across States and Union Territories, in the last two years have put in
necessary hard work and meticulous interventions to give India's electors the
best possible experience. The polling has come after numerous consultations,
reviews, field visits, extensive training of officials and building of new and
time appropriate operating procedures. It has also involved collaboration with
a large spectrum of agencies, organisations countrywide.
The Commission comprising CEC Rajiv
Kumar and ECs Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu gave final touches to poll
preparations today at 12 noon for a smooth run of phase 1 of General Elections
2024. Remaining 6 phases of polls will continue till 1st of June with around 97 crore voters lined up to
vote. Counting of votes scheduled on 4th June.
The Commission considers that it is the time now for
voters to act. It has with all sincerity appealed to voters to step out of
their homes, go to the polling station and vote with responsibility and
pride. In a nationally televised message, CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar appealed
to all voters to vote without fail. Listen to CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar’s message
here -
Phase 1 Facts
1.
Polling for Phase-I of the General Elections
2024 will be held i.e., 19th of
April, 2024 for 102 Parliamentary Constituencies (General- 73;
ST- 11; SC-18) in 21 States/ UTs and 92 Assembly Constituencies in
the State Assembly Elections in Arunachal and Sikkim. It has the highest number
of parliamentary constituencies among all phases. Voting begins at 7AM and ends
at 6 PM (Closure of Poll timings may differ PC wise)
2.
Over 18 lakh Polling officials will
welcome over 16.63 crore voters across 1.87 lakh polling stations
3.
Voters include 8.4 crore Male; 8.23 crore Female and
11,371 Third gender electors.
4.
35.67
lakh first time voters are registered to
cast their votes. Additionally, there are 3.51 crore young voters in
the age group 20-29 years.
5.
1625
candidates (Males - 1491;
Females-134) are in the fray.
6.
41
helicopters, 84 Special trains and
nearly 1
lakh vehicles have been deployed to ferry polling and
security personnel.
Ensuring Peace and
Purity
7.
The Commission has taken a slew of decisive
measures for peaceful and smooth conduct of the elections. Central forces
have been deployed adequately at polling stations to secure the polling process.
8.
Webcasting
will be done in more than 50 % of
the polling stations along with deployment of micro observers in all polling
stations.
9.
361
Observers (127 General Observers, 67 Police Observers, 167 Expenditure
Observers) have already
reached their Constituencies days before the polls. They serve as the eyes and
ears of the Commission to exercise utmost vigilance. Additionally, Special Observers
have been deployed in certain states.
10. A total of 4627 Flying Squads, 5208
Statistics Surveillance Teams, 2028 Video Surveillance Teams and 1255 Video
Viewing Teams are keeping surveillance round the clock to
strictly and swiftly deal with any form of inducement of voters.
11. A total of 1374 inter-state and 162
international Border check posts are keeping strict vigil
on any illicit flow of liquor, drugs, cash and freebies. Strict surveillance
has been kept at sea and air routes.
Voter Facilitation
and Support
12. There are over 14.14 lakh registered 85+
years old and 13.89 lakh PwD voters in
102 PCs who have been provided the option to vote from the comfort of
their homes. The optional Home Voting facility is already receiving tremendous
appreciation and response.
13. Those among 85 + and
PwD voters and deciding to come to polling stations will be provided with all
facilities like pick and drop facility, signages, braille signage on EVM,
volunteers etc. PwD voters can also book wheelchair facilities via ECI Saksham
App.
14. Assured Minimum
Facilities like water, shed, toilets, ramps, volunteers, wheelchairs, and
electricity are in place to ensure that every voter, including elderly and
persons with disabilities, can cast their vote with ease.
15. Model polling
stations are being set up across the 102 PCs with local themes. More than 5000
Polling stations will be completely managed by women including security staff
and at over 1000 Polling stations by Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
16. Voter Information Slips have been distributed to all registered voters.
These slips serve as a facilitation measure and also as an invitation from the
Commission to come and vote.
17. Voters can check
their polling station details, and poll date through this link https://electoralsearch.eci.gov.in/
18. The Commission has
also provided 12 alternative documents other than Voter id card (EPIC) for
identity verification at polling stations. If a voter is registered in the
electoral roll, voting can be done by showing any of these documents.
Information for
Voters
19. Voters should guard
against misinformation and fake news from influencing them or dissuading them
from participating in these elections, especially against false narratives
being peddled on social media. All questions, clarifications and misconceptions
are clarified and addressed in Commission’s Myth vs. Reality register available
at https://mythvsreality.eci.gov.in/
and voters are requested to verify against these authenticated and credible
resources before they amplify.
20. ECI KYC app and
candidate affidavit portal (https://affidavit.eci.gov.in/ )
provides all details of contesting candidates including their assets,
liabilities, educational background and criminal antecedents, if any for
information of voters.
Media Facilitation
21. Commission has
facilitated media persons for coverage of polling at the polling stations with
issuance of nearly 47,000 Authority letters in these 21 States/UTs.
International media has been specially facilitated.
22. Media and all
stakeholders can check voter turnout through ECI voter turnout App on the poll
day which will be updated regularly.
23. The Commission has
also launched a dedicated website for Elections 2024 to provide all relevant
information related to General Elections 2024 at one place https://elections24.eci.gov.in/
Background
24. In the last two
years, the Commission has visited many States/UTs to review the poll
preparedness. The Commission interacted with political parties, enforcement
agencies, all District Officers, SSPs/SPs, Divisional Commissioners, Range IGs,
CS/DGPs and other senior officers of the States/UTs.
25. There were multiple
conferences and review meetings with the Chief Electoral Officers and their
teams to find out any gaps and ways to fill them. A team of senior officers
visited various States to review the overall preparedness of the election
machinery including law and order situation, specific areas of concern, and the
quantum of Central Armed Police Forces requirement.
26. As part of the
review, Election Commission of India also convened a crucial meeting with all
States/UTs to review and assess the law-and-order situation, prevention of illicit
activities, seizures and strict vigil across inter-state and international
borders in the ongoing General Elections to Lok Sabha and State Legislative
Assemblies 2024 for a free, fair, peaceful and inducement free elections. The
purpose of the combined review was to bring all concerned stakeholders together
on the same platform for a seamless coordination and cooperation amongst
officials of the neighbouring states/UTs along with central agencies guarding
the borders. The Commission, in detail, reviewed critical issues pertaining to
each State/UT.
27. Prior to the
announcement of the General Elections, the Commission also briefed over 2100
General, Police and Expenditure Observers for the General Elections.
28. Aiming to enhance
voter turnout, ahead of the polling in the ongoing General Elections 2024,
Election Commission of India (ECI) also held a Conference on Low Voter Turnout
voter with focus on Parliamentary Constituencies (PCs) with a history of low
poll participation in previous General Elections.
29. The entire election
machinery has been trained on all aspects of election management. All
instructions / manuals / handbooks have been comprehensively updated and
available on ECI website.