Election Commission advances poll planning date to prepare for all scenarios

NEW DELHI: Early, on schedule or simultaneous polls, the Election Commission has kick-started its 2019 Lok Sabha election planning 3-4 months in advance of its usual schedule to prepare for all poll scenarios — and weather conditions, complete with anti-humidity VVPAT paper and hood shields.

The EC has started its 2019 election planning over 395 days in advance instead of the usual 365 and has also added additional steps to the elaborate drill to ensure the electoral process and the machines, EVM and VVPAT, work to perfection.

EC sources claimed that the early start was made only to ensure cushion and preparedness for all poll scenarios and it was not based on any governmental input.


Fighting humidity and heat
Special anti-humidity thermal paper rolls have been procured by the EC for VVPATs that will deployed in high-humidity polling stations. The move follows the embarrassing situation in Gondia and Kairana bypolls where many VVPATs went into error mode on over exposure to heat and light and in some other cases, the paper roll absorbed humidity and failed to move smoothly in the VVPAT system.

While the heat and light problems will be addressed by way of special hoods that the new VVPATs will come with, the highly absorbent thermal paper rolls will ensure uninterrupted voting in humid areas.

A consolidated 11.6% VVPAT replacement was reported across the bypolls held in May with worrying figures seen at Kairana in Uttar Pradesh and Gondiya in Maharashtra at 20.8% and 19.22%, respectively. Both and had to go to re-polls later.

While all requisite EVMs will be with ECI by September end, the VVPATs with hoods and new paper will come in between October and November, 2018, sources said.

Master trainers
In a first, 450 master trainers will guide the polling staff on handling the new M3 EVM and the VVPAT correctly and as per protocol so that malfunctions due to human error are kept to a minimum.

Borrowing more time
The EC goes by an elaborate 365-day and highly detailed ‘election planner’ as it moves into a Lok Sabha cycle. EC chose to keep the planning duration to over 395 days this time to ensure it does not have to play catch up in case of early elections as is the buzz, sources said.

While EC was to start the Lok Sabha poll preparations from May 2018 as per the schedule, it chose to start in January-February instead. As per the rulebook, the EC cannot notify a general election six months before the Lok Sabha tenure ends.

The current Lok Sabha’s tenure ends on June 3 and hence the EC cannot notify the next election before December 3, 2018 unless there are emergency situation that may warrant early dissolution of the House.