Thu. Mar 28th, 2024
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The Election Commission has decided to conduct a regulatory audit on poll-related activities in the poll-bound states of Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The decision of the EC comes in the wake of various complaints by the opposition parties blaming faulty EVMs and fake voters.

In a letter to the state chief electoral offices of these states, the Election Commission has said that the detailed regulatory audit will be conducted on activities such as electoral rolls, polling stations, and storage of EVMs before the upcoming elections. Audit of Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) and training of booth officers will also be conducted. The elections in these states are expected to be held by the end of this year.

The audits are meant to keep a check whether the electoral offices adhere to the ECI guidelines and legal procedures. The order said, “The audit teams during their visit will deeply look into all aspects of roll management, including but not restricted to carrying out test, checks of records and physical verification.” The audit teams are likely to visit the states after October 8 when the final list of voters will be declared. It also asked the chief electoral officers to co-operate with the team and provide them the necessary information which they might need immediately for the audit on the same day.

However, the Madhya Pradesh electoral office asked ECI to postpone the visit as they were yet to finalize the electoral roll. Though in the view of a Bhopal based anti-corruption activist Ajay Dubey that the audit must be held as per the guidelines of the commission. The economic times report quoted him as saying, “There are several irregularities in electoral rolls and poll-related activities in Madhya Pradesh as pointed out by the Congress and documents received through RTI. We want a detailed audit to be carried out soon and necessary steps are taken to ensure fair elections.”

By fatima

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