2019 Lok Sabha poll preparations begin in Assam

GUWAHATI: The State Election Department has already started its preliminary preparations for the 2019 Lok Sabha poll. The preparation is set to pick up pace after the panchayat poll in the State.

The counting of votes for the panchayat poll will be on December 12, 2018.

As many as 30,000 EVMs (electronic voting machines) have already arrived in the State that needs a few such machines. Apart from EVMs, the department has already received 1,400 pieces of Voters’ Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) device and power-packed (batteries) devices to be used in the EVMs and VVPATs from the Election Commission of India (ECI). The department is to send the batteries to the district administrations. The EVMs, on the other hand, have already reached the districts. Voter verifiable paper audit trail or verifiable paper record is a method of providing feedback to voters using a ballotless voting system. VVPATs will be used for the first time in all the polling stations in the State in the Lok Sabha election slated to be held in April/May in 2019. The State will have as many as 28,143 polling stations in this Lok Sabha poll. According to a rough estimation of the department, the total expenditure of the Lok Sabha election in the State will be over Rs 150 crore.

Talking to The Sentinel, Additional Chief Electoral Officer ML Surekha said: “We’ve already started our preliminary preparations for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The special summary revision of photo electoral rolls is underway now. The final photo electoral roll is going to be published on January 4, 2019. The Election Commission of India has already called some election officers from the State for training for the Lok Sabha election. The training for our officers is going to start from November 26, 2018.”

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