Dr. Nasim Zaidi, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India
Chandigarh, October 25, 2016
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to provide, electronic postal ballot facility for the defence personnel, posted out of the state. As per the data base of the defence ministry there 1,09,000 registered service voters in Punjab, said Dr. Nasim Zaidi, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India.
Dr. Zaidi was briefing media persons about the feedback that a team of the EC gathered from different stake holders during its 3-day visit to Chandigarh on the Punjab Assembly elections.
The EC has prepared a data base of venerable police stations of the state and put them on its radar. A strategy has also been prepared to curb flow of money, drugs and liquor during Punjab Elections, he said.
He said that all political parties of the state have suggested ‘overhauling’ of the police and civil administration before the elections to prevent influence of money and drugs. The political parties have also sought deployment of central forces, instead of Punjab police, in all polling stations in Punjab.
The concerned SSPs, enforcement agencies and district officials have been directed to conduct ‘vulnerable mapping’ of such elements and deal with stern hands. The authorities have also directed to set up CCTV cameras, and issue directions to arms holders for depositing their licenced weapons before the elections.
Dr Zaidi said claimed that less registration of NRI voters in Punjab is a case of concern. “The Commission is conducting a survey on NRI voters and may introduce online voting facility for the NRIs”, he claimed.
Box
By September 7, 2016, there were 1.92 core voters in Punjab, 6 lakh applications were received from new voters, 2 lakh are young voters and 1,85,000 applied for deletion of their names from voters list, disclosed Dr. Zaidi.