Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SB)
Mangaluru, Apr 3: Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dakshina Kannada on Tuesday informed that those who have missed to register their names in the voters’ list can enroll their names by April 14 and also on April 8 district election commission will conduct a special drive in every polling booth to provide an opportunity for the voters to enroll their names in the voters list.
In a press meet held at DC office on Tuesday April 3, DC informed that district election commission is strictly monitoring all the activities of political parties and politicians in the district. “There are no restrictions on private programmes but public events will be under election commission surveillance. In this season of Yakshagana in our district, there is no restriction on organizing Yakshagana in private places. But for public places the organizers should take permission from the DCs office and should declare that no political leader or any party is involved in the event. There are restrictions on taking sponsorship from politicians, party leaders for any kind of events. Since the code of conduct is in effect, any type of sponsorship from the politicians and parties can be considered as bribe for voters or a section of people.”
Following complaints from various political parties and the public, the Election Commission of India introduced a new printing machine called VVPAT to avoid vote tempering during the polls. “In Dakshina Kannada too we will use this machine,” he said.
He further said, “A Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) unit provides feedback to voters using EVMs for voting. The VVPAT functions as an independent verification system for EVMs and allows voters to verify that their votes are cast as intended. It also serves as an additional barrier to changing or destroying votes.
“VVPAT device functions like a printer attached to the ballot unit and kept inside the voting compartment. When the voter presses the button against the name of the candidate of her/his choice on the EVM unit, the VVPAT unit generates a paper slip, also called ‘ballot slip’. This paper slip contains the name, serial number, and symbol of the chosen candidate. The voter can see this slip through a screened window where it stays for seven seconds and then it automatically gets cut and falls into a sealed drop box. Thus, the ballot slip neither goes into the hands of the voter nor others get to see it.”
The Ballot Slip can only be accessed by the polling officers in the rarest of the rare cases, he added.
“The use of VVPAT also gives the voter an opportunity to challenge her/his vote on the basis of the paper receipt for the first time. As per a new rule, the booth presiding officer has to record the dissent of the vote, which needs to be taken into account at the time of counting.
In this regard the district administration will educate the people about VVPAT at booth level. Special teams will travel in every booth and they will give information about the additional system" he added.
After the press meet a demo of VVPAT function was held at the venue.