The Election Commission ordered all states and union territories to issue mandatory certificates to candidates running in the elections within 48 hours of submitting an application for an affidavit. The committee announced that many candidates encounter discomfort in receiving approvals from the concerned departments. The Committee requested the Chief Secretaries to take immediate action in this regard.
According to the election committee, if a candidate is unable to submit the certificate of non-payment even after he has paid all his debts, this is against his candidacy during the review of the nominations. In many cases the form may be cancelled. In such a situation, the candidate does not receive any relief even after submitting the certificate of non-payment after the period for submitting a candidacy has passed.
The election officer said that in such cases not only the interested candidates but also the parties and the voters may suffer a loss. This weakens the principle of participation in electoral democracy. To ensure that this does not happen, the Election Commission published guidelines.
Our commitment to publish voter turnout data in a timely manner
Also, the Election Commission (EC) said on Friday that it is giving due importance to the timely release of voter turnout figures after each phase. The committee informed that the actual voting booth data is available to the candidates immediately after the end of the voting. After the opposition’s claims regarding a delay in the release of the voting percentages, the Commission published an official announcement on this matter. EC said, transparency is very important in the work of the Commission. The voting percentage, i.e. the final figure, is recorded in Form 17C at each polling station.
Form 17C is signed by the director of the court and all the polling agents present. Copies thereof are given to all polling agents present. The commission said, as part of the statutory process, the constituency-wise as well as booth-wise voting data is available with the candidates.
The weather is expected to remain normal in the third stage
Ahead of the third phase of the voting, the meteorological department gave the election committee the good news that as of May 5, the weather will be pleasant in many election areas in the country. The election committee expressed hope that the heat will not become a challenge at this stage. On the other hand, the Commission said that it is encouraging people through various means to increase voting in the remaining five stages. Veteran cricketers appeal to people to exercise their voting rights during IPL matches.
