All women polling stations

“This decision (for all women polling stations) has been taken to empower women and increase their participation in the poll process,” Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Joti told reporters after winding up his two-day visit to the state here on Saturday.

The Election Commission of India team apart from Joti, comprised of two election commissioners, Om Prakash Rawat and Sunil Arora were on a visit of the state to review Meghalaya’s poll preparedness which goes to Assembly polls early next year.

He informed that the Meghalaya chief electoral officer will be setting up one polling station to be manned by women in all the 60 Assembly constituencies of the state.

Such booths christened as “pink booths” will comprise an all women team for conducting elections like presiding officer, polling officers, micro observers and security personnel.

There are 8.93 lakh women voters in the state which comprises of 50.52 percent of the total electorates.

It may be mentioned that similar initiative was undertaken during the recently concluded polls in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat a similar initiative was undertaken.

In Himachal Pradesh 136 all women managed polling station comprising 2 each in 68 assembly constituencies were setup for the first time in the state, while in Gujarat, there were 182 such “pink booths” which meant one in each constituency.

The Election Commission has also asked the state to ensure sufficient electricity supply is provided to polling stations where power supply is erratic.

He said that state officials have also assured the Commission to ensure there is accessibility to persons with disabilities who are coming to the polling stations.

Meanwhile, the Chief Election Commissioner informed that the number of registered voters till today was 17.68 lakh adding that another 32,221 new voters were added till December 19.

“Out of these about 45 percent are first time voters who are between the age group of 18-20 years,” Joti said while informing that around 2000 names of voters were deleted from the state’s electoral roll since they have either died or have shifted.

Joti informed that earlier on Friday when the various political parties of the state met the team from the Election Commission of India they took up a gamut of issues before it.

The Chief Election Commissioner told that the parties took up the issue of law and order.

“They expressed apprehension of booth capturing in far flung areas of the state, the issue of VIPs misusing the security personnel allotted to such persons and also wanted the restriction on movement of militants who may influence the poll process,” Joti said.

On the apprehension of the various political parties on the Voter Verifiable Paper Trails (VVPaTs), Joti said, “This is a new innovation towards a transparent and accountable election process.”

He said that since June this year, the EC has decided that it will be deploying 100 per cent VVPAT machines for all elections as per Supreme Court’s direction.

“It is a big challenge (VVPAT) which we have already accepted and we are implementing it to ensure transparency,” he said while informing that the total number of registered voters in the whole country is 86.8 crore and there are 9.18 lakh polling stations.

By Our Reporter