The Election Commission of India today organized a briefing meeting with the Special Observers who have been appointed to supervise and monitor the work being done by the electoral machinery for the current General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh 2022.
Fifteen former civil servants who hold an impeccable and brilliant track record of domain expertise and have past experience with election processes have been included in the team as Special Observers for the current poll going states, the official statement said. The Special Observers will be supervising and monitoring the work being done by the electoral machinery in their assigned States and ensure that stringent, effective enforcement action is undertaken based on intelligence inputs and complaints received through CVigil, voter helpline etc. These officers will oversee the entire poll process as eyes and ears of the Commission on the ground to ensure free, fair and voter-friendly elections.
Welcoming the Special Observers, CEC Sushil Chandra said that the overarching spirit of deploying Special Observers is to objectively assess the poll preparedness, identify the critical gaps and guide the electoral machinery in the field to ensure impartial, inducement free, peaceful and Covid safe elections. Chandra pointed out that each election is unique in itself, has its own logistics and challenges, yet higher voter turnout has to be encouraged. Special Observers thus need to be vigilant and be in touch with the Commission on a real-time basis throughout the entire election process and should bring to the notice of the Commission any corrective measures required, he said. All vulnerable areas have to be attended to and adequate confidence-building measures are undertaken. He added that ECI wishes to provide a hassle-free experience to voters at each Polling station which has been provided with Assured Minimum facilities especially for Persons with Disabilities. Postal Ballot for senior citizen 80+yrs voters is another facility provided. Polling stations have been made Covid protocol compliant and voter-friendly.
Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said Special Observers with their in-depth administrative experience, acumen and understanding are important for the Commission in assessing the field situation and taking necessary corrective measures for ensuring level playing field amongst all stakeholders and preventing any deviation from Standard Operating Procedures of ECI.