With NOTA in place, it will be interesting to see how many voters turn up at the polling booth. It is expected that some unexpected results will be delivered with the changes in place.
Assembly elections will take place in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram in November-December, and the results will be known Dec 8, it was announced by the Election Commission on Friday.
While polling will take place in Chhattisgarh Nov 11 and 19, Madhya Pradesh will see a day’s balloting Nov 25. Rajasthan will vote Dec 1, and Delhi and Mizoram on Dec 4, Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath told the media.
By-elections will simultaneously take place in the assembly constituencies of Surat West in Gujarat and Yercaud in Tamil Nadu. He said a total of 110 million people will be eligible to vote in the elections, which comes months before the Lok Sabha elections due in 2014.
The None Of The Above option will be available to voters for the first time in keeping with the Supreme Court order. Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath said the commission is educating polling officers so that the option will be available to voters in coming elections.
To conduct free and fair polls, very elaborate security arrangements have been made. The publication of opinion polls has been banned 48 hours before the end of the polls. With model code of conduct coming into effect immediately across the five states, the number of polling stations has been put at 13,000.
There willl be due protection for SC/ ST voters and weaker sections of society.
There will be an adequate number of general observers, police observers, expenditure observers and general observers. Micro observers will also be deployed across districts to monitor polling.
This is the first time that the Election Commission will have awareness observers who will oversee measures for voter facilitation with a view to motivate voters and increase turnout.
The Election Commission will have close liaison with banks to monitor cash transactions before the elections.
Chief Electoral Officers have been asked to launch efforts to get greater voter participation on the basis of research to find factors that affect voter turnout. Voter id slips will be distributed at doorsteps for voters just before date of polls giving full details of voter, date of poll and the polling station where the voter is required to go.
Committees have been formed to monitor for paid news closely. Workshops will be conducted for the members of these committees and for politicians contesting the polls.
The Election Commission says it has improved its website and call centre to deal with complaints.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be the main players in Delhi, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh although the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has emerged as a third force in the national capital. While the Congress rules Delhi, Rajasthan and Mizoram, the BJP governs Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
With NOTA in place, it will be interesting to see how many voters turn up at the polling booth. It is expected that some unexpected results will be delivered with the changes in place.
-with inputs from IANS
