EC skips full Commission visits to poll-bound states

New Delhi: Senior Election Commission officials led by deputy election commissioners will start visiting the five poll-bound states from this week to oversee election preparedness at the field level.

Functionaries said teams from the EC will visit Goa this week, followed by Uttarakhand next week. The EC officials will also visit Punjab and then Manipur in the coming weeks.

There is no word yet on when EC officials will visit Uttar Pradesh.

Usually, the ‘full Commission’ comprising the chief election commissioner and fellow commissioners visits poll-bound states ahead of announcement of election schedule.

While the term of the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly ends on May 22 next year, the terms of 60-member Manipur, 40-member Goa, 117-member Punjab and 70-member Uttarakhand assemblies end on different dates in March, 2027.

Provisions of The Representation of the People Act, 1950 allows EC to hold polls ‘earlier than six months before the term expires’. As part of poll preparation, Uttar Pradesh and Goa have initiated ‘first-level checks’ (FLCs) on electronic voting machines and paper trail units to be used in polling.

During FLCs, engineers from BEL and ECIL, the two PSUs that manufacture the equipment, check the electronic voting machines and paper trail machines for mechanical flaws. Faulty machines are returned to the manufacturers for repair or replacement.

A mock poll is also held to check the two machines in the presence of representatives of political parties.

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