Election Commission of India in its constant endeavor to provide information and services to citizens in a hassle free manner has started a new service on the website of the Commission. Polling Station locations of Himachal Pradesh have been plotted on maps and can be seen by citizens when they visit the concerned page on the website of Election Commission of India.
A spokesman of the Election Department said that a tab named “Information Linked to Polling Station Maps” has been provided on the left hand side panel of the website of the Commission. Citizens can visit the Polling Stations Maps page by clicking on this tab. Once on the page, citizens will see the names of States for which maps of polling stations are available. On clicking on the name of the State, the map page will open up. Citizens can select District, Assembly Constituency and Polling Station names from drop down lists and click a button to see Polling Station Locations of the selected area on the map viewer on the page. It is possible to zoom into any point on the map to increase the magnification by either double clicking on the map or by increasing the magnification on the left side on the map viewer.
He said that users could activate the satellite image layer and even see the Polling Station buildings, and the roads leading to it. Polling Station Locations are seen as Pins dropped on the map for each Polling Station. On clicking on the Pin, a balloon opens up showing the names and cell phone numbers of the Chief Electoral Officer, District Election Officer, Electoral Registration Officer and Booth Level Officer.
There is also a link provided for Electoral Rolls. On clicking this link, Electoral Roll for that Polling Station opens up in PDF format and can be saved by the user on his local computer and also printed from the local computer.
The Commission hopes that electors and political parties will find this facility useful for the smooth and active participation in the electoral process.
Use of Electoral Photo Identity Cards
The Election Commission has directed that all electors in each of the 68 Assembly Constituencies, in Himachal Pradesh, for the general election shall produce their EPIC for establishing their identity before casting their votes.
Electors who do not have EPIC shall have to produce the ‘Authenticated Photo Voter Slip’ issued by the election machinery for identification in the polling stations. If any elector fails to produce his/her EPIC or the photo in the EPIC/Authenticated Photo Voter Slip does not match, they shall have to produce any of the 14 alternative photo documents specified by Election Commission of India for establishing their identity.
The “Smart Card” being issued under National Population Register (NPR) Scheme by RGI has also been included as one of the alternative identity document.
The overseas electors shall have to produce their original passport only for identification.
If an elector produces an Electoral Identity Card, which has been issued by the Electoral Registration Officer of another Assembly Constituency, such cards shall also be taken into account provided the name of that elector finds place in the electoral roll pertaining to the polling station where the elector has turned up for voting. Minor discrepancies in the entries in the EPIC should be ignored and the elector allowed to vote provided the identity of the elector can be established by means of the EPIC.
Guidelines for Results of Opinion Polls
The Spokesman of the Election Department said here today that according to the instructions issued by the Election Commission of India, no result of any opinion poll or exit poll conducted at any time shall be published, publicized or disseminated in any manner, whatsoever, by print, electronic or any other media at any time during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for closing of poll.
