Assam Chief Electoral Officer meets political parties on poll preparedness

GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Electoral Officer today held a meeting with representatives of all political parties in the state for the two-phase Assembly elections scheduled for April 4 and 11.

He said the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) was in force with the announcement of the elections by the Election Commission yesterday, a government release here said.

He briefed the parties about the MCC and a booklet on it was distributed to party representatives and they were requested to ensure that no violation takes place.

The CEO briefed the representatives on the schedule of the Assembly Election, number of voters in the voter's list and the number of young and first time voters, the release said.

Explaining about the preparedness for the upcoming elections, the CEO said Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) would be introduced in all polling stations of 10 constituencies spread across the state.

He also informed the party representatives about the new software of the Commission on the online facility of redressal of public grievances through the website - www.ceoassam.nic.in and through its toll free number 1950.

Stating that the Commission has also launched an android mobile application - Samadhan-Assam, he appealed all parties to cooperate and report any case of malpractice for immediate action, the release said.

VVPAT would be introduced for the first time in 10 Assam Legislative Assembly Constituencies, including Guwahati under Kamrup (Metro) district during the upcoming elections, Kamrup (Metro) district Deputy Commissioner M Angamathu told reporters today.

The VVPAT machine attached to an electronic voting machine (EVM) would print out a confirmation slip upon a voter casting his or her ballot in the EVM, displaying the candidate's serial number and election symbol to confirm the chosen contestant was voted for.