Taking stock of poll preparedness ahead of the Goa Assembly elections slated for early next year, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra on Wednesday said all political parties would have to make public on their websites and state in the media the reasons for choosing candidates with criminal antecedents.
In a bid to ensure transparency and conduct of free and fair elections, the CEC said webcasting facilities along with data analytics would be introduced in all the 1,700-odd polling stations in Goa.
“Voters have the right to be well informed of the credentials of the candidate once nominations are filed. If they have a criminal record, candidates must publish their antecedents at least three times in print or the television media. Additionally, parties will also have to give reasons as to why they are choosing such a candidate and why they could not find a clean candidate in his lieu,” Mr. Chandra said. The Election Commission too, through its special cell, would be monitoring such candidates and whether or not they were informing electors of their criminal past.
Mr. Chandra, along with a team of the EC, was on a three-day visit to the coastal State where the tenure of the incumbent government ends on March 15 next year. The Goa Assembly has 40 seats and one seat is reserved for Scheduled Castes.
“For the first time in Goa, each and every polling station will be having webcasting facilities along with data analytics, for which we have sought the help of the Indian Institute of Technology Goa to ensure real-time monitoring of the booths,” Mr. Chandra said in Panjim after the EC team’s visit.
He said the updated electoral rolls would be out by January 5 and given to all political parties.
Booths increased
To ensure COVID-appropriate behaviour in the wake of the looming Omicron variant threat, Mr. Chandra said the maximum voters in a booth had been reduced from 1,500 to 1,000 so that proper physical distancing could be maintained.
As a result, 60 new polling stations had been created in Goa, taking the total number of booths to 1,722, he said.
“We are ensuring that all polling stations have minimum facilities such as drinking water, toilets, shelters, ramps. We have reviewed the plan with the Chief Secretary, all Deputy Commissioners and other authorities. Additionally, all polling stations will have to be absolutely accessible keeping in mind PwD [people with disabilities] voters,” Mr. Chandra said.
Noting the high participation of Goans in the last two Assembly elections and the State’s high literacy rate, Mr. Chandra said the voter turnout had nevertheless fallen to 74.95% in the 2019 by-elections against 81.21% in the 2012 Assembly polls and 82.57% in the 2012 Assembly election.
He said the Commission had directed the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to identify low voter turnout pockets and rectify it by creating more voter awareness through booth level officers.
Voter registration drive
The CEC said that owing to increased voter registration drives, 30,598 new voters had been enrolled of whom 16,807 were first-time voters — a majority of whom were senior citizens and persons with disabilities. He said that till now, the State was found to have 11.56 lakh eligible voters of a total population of approximately 15 lakh.
“Our special emphasis on enrolling young voters who had completed 18 years and increased voter registration drives resulted in 9,804 PwDs and more than 30,000 senior citizens above the age of 80 years getting mapped. This is quite a good number for a State with a population of 15 lakh,” he said.
Representatives of the Trinamool Congress, the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and the Goa Forward Party met the EC team.
“Their concerns dealt with senior citizens above 80 years and persons with disabilities, the timely publication of electoral rolls and the announcement of dates taking note of the festival season,” the CEC said.
Flying squads
Stating that the EC would crack down sternly on any one dealing in narcotics, distribution of illicit cash or hoarding of freebies, Mr. Chandra said flying squads would be constituted to monitor distribution of cash and freebies after the model code of conduct set in. Airport, railway authorities and the Coast Guard had been directed to keep a strong vigil to watch out for such misdemeanours.
