SHILLONG: To curb the distribution of money and violation of model code of conduct during elections, the State Election Department has now decided to come up with an app to tackle it with the help of citizens.
Meghalaya Chief Electoral Officer, FR Kharkongor, while speaking at an EVM and VVPAT awareness programme here on Friday, informed that the new app – Citizens Vigilance app will allow citizens to upload pictures or videos if distribution of money and violation of model code of conducts occurs during election.
The app will have a geotag feature to certify if the video or photo uploaded on the app is an old video or not.
Once the video is uploaded, the Returning officer will verify the case and if the complaint is found to be genuine, authorities will take legal action against those involved.
The app is expected to be of significant importance in Meghalaya since complaints of distribution of money and violation of model code of conducts during election is common in the state. It is expected to help reduce the use of money and muscle power during election.
Earlier, Kharkongor also said that the EVMs which will be used during the MDC elections are different from the ones that were used during the Legislative and Lok Sabha electons.
He added that the EVMs used in the Legislative and Lok Sabha elections have stringent safeguards.
Talking about the fault in EVMs and VVPATs, he said that malfunction percentage in EVMs was 5 per cent in the entire country but in the last election in Meghalaya, it was only 0.71 per cent and similarly the malfunction percentage in VVPATs was 5-6 per cent in the entire country but in Meghalaya it was 2.23 per cent.
Earlier, he said M2 variety of VVPATs was used in the state even as he maintained that ballot voting led to wastage of paper, manpower and time.
Besides, there were fears of manipulation with ballot voting while EVMs are time efficient, he added.
He also said malfunctions can occur in EVMs due to human error but there is no proof that any tampering can be done with EVMs.
Earlier, leaders from Congress and UDP also spoke on the occasion.
