Postal Ballot voting

To ensure voting rights for government employees engaged in election duty during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission has provided the facility of voting by postal ballot.

A state-level exchange fair has been organised for the submission of the form to their respective election officers in the district, which is to be filled by election duty personnel, including polling staff, other employees, police, and the state reserve police force (SRPF).

Chief electoral officer (CEO) P Bharathi informed that the state-level exchange fair will be held on Apr 18 at Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Auditorium in Ahmedabad.

Postal nodal officers and employees from 33 districts of the state will be present at the fair for the form submission.

Moreover, various programmes are being organised across the state to create awareness and encourage maximum voter participation from all sections of society.

Under these programmes, voting awareness camps, the appointment of campus ambassadors for first-time voters in colleges, meetings at anganwadis for women voter awareness, voter awareness at industries, a MoU for voter awareness at the district and state level, participation with influencers and icons through social media, and society meetings are being organised.

Giving details of the applications filed in Gujarat after the notification of the Lok Sabha elections was published, CEO Bharathi said that a total of 31 applications have been received till Apr 15 for the 26 constituencies in the state.

Four applications have been received for the by-elections in Viramgam, Porbandar, Manavadar, Khambhat, and Waghodia assembly constituencies.

Candidates can file their nomination papers until Apr 19 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., except for public holidays, and withdraw their nominations on Apr 22 by 3 p.m. if they wish.

The scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on Apr 20 at 11 a.m.

Electoral vigilance by the department

A total of 27 general observers, 28 expenditure observers, and 14 police observers have been appointed for the election.

With the publication of the election notification, 1,203 static surveillance teams and 756 flying squads have been deployed across the state to monitor and control election expenditures.

These authorities have seized goods worth ₹96.45 cr, including cash worth ₹7.87 cr, 4.42 lakh litres of liquor worth ₹13.02 cr, 59.36 kg gold and silver worth ₹29.16 cr, 718 kg illegal drugs worth ₹1.86 cr, and other items worth ₹44.54 cr.

2,058 complaints have been received regarding the violation of the model code of conduct (MCC) on the c-VIGIL mobile app from Mar 16 to Apr 14. According to the ECI guidelines, immediate action has been taken over all these complaints.

Additionally, a total of 9,740 complaints have been registered on the National Grievance Services Portal from the same tenure, including 7,117 complaints related to EPIC (Elector’s Photo Identity Card), 658 related to voter lists, 184 related to voter slips, and 1,781 others.

Furthermore, 144 complaints have been received through the helpline number of the control room operating under the CEO’s office.

487 complaints have been received by post and email at the electoral offices, including 16 related to the media, 12 related to political parties, 42 related to the Election Commission, and 417 others.

1,65,382 political advertising materials, including posters, banners, and advertisements, have been cleared from government properties and 60,872 of the same from private properties, in compliance with the MCC rules.

Also read:

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