With barely five months left for the Assembly elections in Meghalaya, the State Election Department is in the middle of a hectic pre-poll campaign to woo more voters to the polling booths, particularly the younger lot. Already, a month-long campaign, Mission Unite, was launched in schools and colleges across the state in July, as a result of which as many as 21,455 new voters (age group of 18 and 19 years) have been enrolled.
Chief Electoral Officer Frederick Roy Kharkongor says the Election Department is on course for its target enrollment of 18 lakh voters by election time, which will be close to an impressive 20 per cent jump from the 15,03,907 voters in the 2013 Assembly elections. Besides, Kharkongor, who is also the Commissioner and Secretary, Election department, says crucial aspects such as security, training of polling officials, voter awareness campaigns are being discussed with the district and police administration to ensure smooth conduct of the 2018 elections.
Saurav Bora caught up with the 43-year-old IAS officer for an exclusive interview on Thursday afternoon.
Here are the excerpts of the interview:
ST: How is the State Election Department gearing up for the elections?
Kharkongor: We are gearing our machinery to cover three stages — pre-poll, polling and post poll. Right now, we are into pre-poll preparations. We are having regular video conferences with our deputy commissioners and keeping track of the status of the polling stations. On Wednesday, we had an elaborate meeting with the DGP and SPs to discuss vulnerability mapping to find out areas that need greater attention. We have shared with them the entire Election Commission instructions on various aspects of poll management and security. The polling officers will undergo training in October-November while the districts will also train their officials subsequently.
ST: Tell us in detail about your preparations for Special Summary Revision?
Kharkongor: Well… the draft electoral rolls will be published on September 27. The Special Summary Revision, which is being done for maximum enrolment, will start immediately after the Pujas, when booth level officers will carry out house-to-house surveys and voter awareness/education programmes will be held.
The period for filing of claims and objections will be between September 27 and October 31, 2017. The dates for reading of relevant sections of photo electoral rolls in gram Sabha/local bodies and verification of names have been fixed at October 6 and October 18, 2017.
The special campaign dates have been scheduled on October 7 and 21, 2017 while disposal of claims and objections will be done by November 13, 2017. The update of the database, merging of photographs, update of the control tables and preparation and printing of supplementary list will be done by December 19, 2017.
The final publication of electoral rolls will take place on January 10, 2018.
ST: What measures are you taking in the border areas of Meghalaya?
Kharkongor: The concerned deputy commissioners and superintendents of police have already had meetings with their (Assam) counterparts on the security front. They will be more meetings in the days to come.
ST: When are you meeting the political parties to brief them about the code of conduct, ethical practices besides the initiatives taken?
Kharkongor: That will take place only when the elections are announced.
ST: When is the Election Commission of India (ECI) delegation visiting Meghalaya?
Kharkongor: The date is not yet known to us…But the ECI will certainly be visiting the state within this quarter.
ST: How will the ECI ensure that money power does not play a role in the elections?
Kharkongor: The ECI has elaborate instructions in this regard…Expenditure observers will be there while flying squads will be deployed across the state (to monitor the situation round the clock).
ST: Is there any increase in the number/percentage of voters in the state compared to 2013?
Kharkongor: Definitely…..In 2013, the number of voters was 15, 03,907. Currently, we have an electorate of 17, 54,000-odd voters (almost a 17 per cent increase)…We plan to touch 18lakh voters this time.
ST: Is the election department taking measures to prevent dual voting?
Kharkongor: We have a de-duplication software that weeds out dual voters.
ST: Meghalaya will toe the Manipur line in terms of introducing technology to ensure free and fair elections. You are also introducing VVPAT (Voter Verification Paper Audit Trail) machines for the first time. How is the work progressing?
Kharkongor: Yes… We will use technology like webcasting and GPS in certain critical/vulnerable polling stations. Awareness and training on VVPAT will be started in due course to educate the voters about the machine and how it works. VVPAT will convince the voter that his/her vote has been registered correctly.
ST: Last time, you had visited schools and colleges to woo young/first time voters to the booths? What initiatives are you taking this time?
Kharkongor: We have added 21,455 new voters in the age group of 18-19 years after we began our campaign, Mission Unite, in schools and colleges in July. This is out of the 40,000 (Form 6) applications that we have received during the month-long campaign. Currently, we have 17, 54,000 voters enrolled. In October, a special campaign will be carried out to cover those who are not yet enrolled, mainly focusing on 18-19 year olds outside the school/college campuses, besides those who are left out. Our focus will be on rural areas.
ST: Has there been an increase in polling stations? If so, do you have adequate manpower to reach out to the far-flung areas?
Kharkongor: Yes… We had 2,485 polling stations in the 2013 elections… Currently, we have 2,771 polling booths, which is likely to go beyond 3,000 in due course…
As regards manpower, we have asked the deputy commissioners to create an adequate pool of officials/staff to reach out to every area.
ST: What measures have you taken to ensure that the physically challenged and the elderly can cast their vote without difficulty?
Kharkongor: We have the “Assured Minimum Facilities” in place that makes it mandatory for every polling station to have basic facilities such as toilets, drinking water and ramps for the physically challenged…..Now we are in the process of identifying the polling stations that do not have the facilities. Besides, voter awareness material will be there for the visually challenged. However, we are yet to decide on Braille electoral rolls.
ST: Lastly, the pre-delimitation EPICs had names of the previous constituency mentioned. How can they rectify this?
Kharkongor: Well, they need to fill up two forms — Form 8 and 8A …to request for a change of address. The rectification is done at the DCs office …The applicants are called for a hearing. The process does not take much time.