Election Commission ready for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections by September 2018: All you need to know
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly pitched for simultaneous elections for state Assemblies and Lok Sabha.
Election Commission will be ready to hold Lok Sabha and Assembly elections together by September 2018. Photo: Reuters
New Delhi,UPDATED: Oct 12, 2017 11:10 IST
A top Election Commission official said that the poll body will be "logistically equipped" by September next year to hold simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly pitched for simultaneous elections for state assemblies and Lok Sabha and said that frequent elections mean more expenditure by the exchequer and disruption in governance.
Election Commissioner O P Rawat on Wednesday said, "The commission would be logistically equipped by September 2018 to hold parliamentary and Assembly polls together".
HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT THE ELECTION COMMISSIONER SAID ON SIMULTANEOUS POLLS:
- Election Commissioner O P Rawat said that the Centre had asked the election body to state "what it would require for becoming capable of holding the parliamentary and Assembly polls together".
- The Election Commission, in its response, has asked for funds to purchase new electronic voting machines (EVMs) and VVPATs.
- The Election Commissioner said EC has placed order for the purchase of new EVMs and VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) machines after receiving funds from the Centre. He said the EC received Rs 3,400 crore for VVPAT machines and Rs 12,000 crore for EVMs.
- Election Commissioner O P Rawat said the election body will get 40 lakh VVPAT machines by September 2018. "We would be logistically ready to hold simultaneous polls by September 2018, but it is up to the government to take a decision and make necessary legal amendments for it," said the Election Commissioner.
- Recently, the Election Commission issued a formal direction that VVPAT or paper trail machines will be used at polling stations in all future elections where polls are held using EVMs.
- On Wednesday, the Election Commission also launched a web-based application, Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) network, to ensure efficient conduct of elections by checking duplication.
- VVPAT is a machine which dispenses a slip with the symbol of the party for which a person has voted for. The slip drops in a box but the voter cannot take it home. It has only been used on trial basis in some places.
- Several parties have demanded the use of VVPAT machines to dispel doubts about EVM tampering. As many as 16 political parties had petitioned the Election Commission to revert to paper ballot system for greater transparency. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress had attacked the EC on the issue of alleged tampering of EVMs.
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(With inputs from PTI)
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