SHILLONG: Chief election commissioner, AK Joti has allayed fears over the use of electronic voting machines in the Assembly polls in the state, saying that EVMs cannot be tampered with as slips from the VVPAT in every constituency will be counted and matched with control units.
Speaking to media persons here on Saturday, Joti exuded confidence that the Election Commission of India would conduct the upcoming Assembly polls in a free and transparent manner.
He said a similar exercise of matching slips from VVPAT with control units was taken in the recently concluded Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections.
Stating that more than 32,000 new voters have been enrolled in the state under the special summary revision, the CEC said 45 per cent of them are first time voters in the age group of 18-20 years besides informing that 2,608 dead voters have been removed from the electoral roll.
Expressing happiness over the fact that EPIC card coverage in Meghalaya is 100 per cent, Joti directed the state election department to deliver the cards to voters by mid-January.
Asserting that there would be 3,028 polling stations in the state, he however expressed concern over the fact that many polling stations do not have electricity connections for which the state power department has been asked to take necessary action.
One of the most innovative features of this election is the fact that there will be 60 polling stations in the state which will be managed by women officers and only women voters will be allowed to vote there.
Responding to a query on the use of money power in the polls, he said flying squads besides air intelligence units in Guwahati and Umroi airports will be set up besides officers from the Income Tax department will be deployed to keep a tab on the entire electoral exercise.
The CEC however did not mention as to when the elections would be held,adding that vulnerability mapping of sensitive, critical polling stations have been done.
According to Joti, the requirement for central paramilitary force has been worked out, and accordingly, the ministry of home affairs would deploy central forces in the state for smooth elections.
It may be mentioned that there are 19 constituencies in the state which share boundary with Assam while there are 11 constituencies which border Bangladesh.
The CEC during their two-day visit to the state capital held several meetings with political parties, state police, district administration besides others wings of the government.During the meeting, political parties raised several issues with the CEC. While some asked for installation of CCTV cameras in the polling stations, others urged the Election Commission to take measures to stop the practice of money distribution in the election.
Some political parties also asked the CEC to ensure that VIP candidates do not move around with security personnel. Besides, there were also demands to increase the number of polling stations in the state.
