The municipal elections in Assam is ongoing today. This is to 80 municipal boards, 977 wards across the Northeastern state. The elections are seen as crucial.
It is for the first time in the history of civic elections in Assam that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are to be used for the process. It is voting using electronic means to either aid or take care of the chores of casting and counting votes.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), An EVM is designed with two units: the control unit and the balloting unit. These units are joined together by a cable. The control unit of the EVM is kept with the presiding officer or the polling officer. The balloting unit is kept within the voting compartment for electors to cast their votes.
The ECI mentions, This is done to ensure that the polling officer verifies your identity. With the EVM, instead of issuing a ballot paper, the polling officer will press the Ballot Button which enables the voter to cast their vote.
The ECI further mentions, A list of candidates names and/or symbols will be available on the machine with a blue button next to it. The voter can press the button next to the candidate’s name they wish to vote for.
For the municipal elections today, as many as 2,532 candidates are in the fray. The total number of eligible voters are 16,73,899, with 8,32,348 males, 8,41,534 females and 17 transgenders.
“cVIGIL is an innovative mobile app for citizens to report Model Code of Conduct and Expenditure violations during elections. In case you witness untoward action violating the election code of conduct, take help of cVIGIL app & inform.”, reads a tweet by the Office of Assam Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), yesterday.
“Be a vigilant citizen, use the cVIGIL app and report any act of Model Code of Conduct and Expenditure violations during elections.”, reads another tweet by the CEO Assam yesterday.
