Media has a huge role in promoting ethical voting : Chief Electoral Officer
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, January 08 2024: Media has a huge role in promoting ethical voting, said State Chief Electoral Officer Pradeep Kumar Jha.

He was speaking at the "One Day Media Sensitization Programme on Electoral Literacy" held in connection with the golden jubilee celebration of the All Manipur Working Journalists' Union (AMWJU) today here at Manipur Press Club.

Speaking as the chief guest of the programme, Pradeep Kumar Jha lauded the initiative of the union to organise such a programme ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and added that the programme is very timely.

Announcing that preparations are underway for the election, he said elaborate measures are being taken up to keep everything in the public domain to ensure a transparent, error proof, impartial and effective elections in the coming days besides ensuring a level playing field for all political parties.

Media has a huge role in promoting ethical voting : Chief Electoral Officer

Taking note of the huge role media has to play, he urged media persons to effectively disseminate every measure taken by the Election Commission of India (ECI), Chief Electoral Office (CEO) to the public, raise awareness and promote ethical voting.

Keeping in mind the challenges likely to come in the aftermath of the violence in the State, he also said that they, in consultation with the higher authorities, are working on a possible solution.

Maintaining that it won't be the last interaction of the Electoral Office with the media fraternity, Pradeep Kumar also expressed hope of similar programmes where they would exchange ideas, seek inputs and suggestions for effective electoral process.

Speaking as the functional president, AMWJU president Kakchingtabam Bijoy highlighted the importance of the programme, seventh of its kind held as a part of the year long golden jubilee celebration of the union and called upon mediapersons attending to interact and draw valuable knowledge from Joint Chief Electoral Officers-Ramananda Nongmeikapam and Md S Daulat Khan who were present as resource persons.

Speaking at the occasion, Ramananda Nongmeikapam extolled AMWJU for its endeavour to tie up with various key Departments of the State and hold interactive sessions to effectively raise awareness on public welfare schemes and further take it to the general public.

He said that there are two key aspects of the electoral process in the country and they are i) Preparation of electoral roll in line with the Representation of People Act 1950, and ii) Conduct of Election in line with the Representation of People Act 1950 .

He dwelt on how electoral rolls were prepared and published in earlier days and positive changes brought about by rapid digitization through which yearly publication of electoral rolls and continuous updation are achieved.

Manipur's latest draft electoral roll was published on October 27 last and the final electoral roll will be published on January 22, he said.

Through effective purification exercises, around 50 thousand voters who were found entered multiple times, have been removed, he said.

He also highlighted the role of stakeholders in preparation of an electoral roll viz-Electoral Registration Officer, Assistant Electoral Registration Officer and Booth Level Officer (BLO) .

Enumerating several forms for registration of new voter, deletion and shifting of residence, he also dwelt on channels through which these forms can be submitted including BLO, online via National Voters Service Portal (NVSP) and mobile application "Voter Helpline App" .

One can access authentic records of elections, candidates since India became a republic through this user-friendly and well verified Voter Helpline App, he said.

He also said that the Election Office will reach out to the media frequently on every development and expressed hope that the media fraternity will respond very positively.

Joint CEO Md S Daulat Khan spoke on Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), Voter Verifiable Paper Audit trail (VVPAT), myths and rumours surrounding EVM.

Detailing the first use of EVMs in Kerala in 1982 to replace ballot papers in election to the widespread use of it from 2000 onwards in State and Parliamentary elections, he said that the machine consists of ballot unit, control unit and VVPAT.

He then highlighted the aspect of the ballot unit which features details of candidates, their serial numbers, party symbols and photos besides braille script specially designed for visually impaired electors.

These EVMs are manufactured only by the Bharat Electronic Ltd (BEL) and the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), he said while adding that they are standalone machines which cannot be connected to any other device and can't be interfered by any electric or radio signals.

They have a self diagnostic system and are secured, unhackable and tamper-proof devices, he said.

He also dwelt on rigorous several steps these EVMs had to undergo before they are used in elections which include "First Level Checking", mock polls ahead of the election and the day of election itself by incorporating stakeholders including polling officials, representatives of political parties and polling agents.

He also highlighted the security measures taken up to keep the EVM safe right from the allocation and till the counting of votes.

Malpractices in times of election, law and order aspects and social responsibility were also discussed.