ELECTION COMMISSION'S FIRST PRIORITY IS TO CONDUCT ELECTIONS IN A FAIR AND TRANSPARENT MANNER

Face2News/Chandigarh 

Haryana Chief Electoral Officer, Sh. Anurag Agarwal said that conducting elections in an impartial and transparent manner is the Election Commission's top priority. During the counting of votes, Returning Officers should arrange for additional staff and, if possible, form a broadcast group. Ensure that information about every phase of the counting process is sent to the Chief Electoral Officer's office and submit reports in the prescribed format, which must be sent to the Election Commission of India.

Today, the Chief Electoral Officer convened a review meeting to review the counting centres and the counting of votes in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He stated that Returning Officers will have to arrange for additional staff. They should consider using school auditoriums as polling centres because during the counting process, they need to set up 7 tables each, face to face, allowing political party representatives and election agents to sit in the polling centre and provide them with information on each phase of the counting process.

Special attention should be paid to providing a separate room for observers, equipped with two telephones. A hotline should also be established between the Chief Electoral Officer and the observer. Arrangements for food and other necessities should be made for officers and staff involved in the counting process. Returning Officers should also ensure that no political candidate or counting agent is allowed to bring mobile phones or cameras to the polling center, and they should be informed about this beforehand.

In the meeting, information on media certification and monitoring committees, pre-certification of political advertisements, and its reporting through various media channels were discussed. District Election Officers should form District Election Officer Committees with the District Information and Public Relations Officer as Secretary.

All recognized national and political parties and candidates contesting elections must obtain permission to publish political advertisements three days before publication. The Media Certification and Monitoring Committee will inform about the decision within two days of receiving the application. No political advertisements can be published in print media on the day of polling and one day before polling. The Press Council of India also issued rules for journalists during elections. Regarding paid news, MCMC and the District Election Officer will have to monitor in an impartial manner.