Webcasting set to enhance electoral oversight in poll-bound Rajasthan

The Election Department in the state has made arrangements for live webcasting at 26,084 polling stations. A total of 3 lakh 85 thousand 672 applications have been received for the postal ballot, including senior citizens above 80 years of age, disabled people, essential service personnel and polling personnel. On Saturday, Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta interacted with District Election Officers through video conferencing from the Government Secretariat through live webcasting at the polling stations identified on the polling day. A review meeting was held regarding the arrangements for the postal ballot and vehicle pass for voters above 80 years of age and with more than 40 per cent disability. Webcasting will be done at 26,084 polling stations on polling day. Gupta said that 13,995 critical polling stations have been identified by all the district election officers of the state in their respective constituencies. Including these, instructions have been given to provide facilities of uninterrupted power supply, working electrical power points, tele connectivity etc, to run live webcasting smoothly at a total of 26,084 polling stations. Instructions given for live webcasting The Chief Electoral Officer said that the live webcasting from the selected polling stations can be watched live by the District Election Officer at the district level, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer at the state level and senior officials of the Election Commission of India at the national level. He said, “The Deputy District Election Officer will be the District Administrative Nodal Officer for the successful operation of live webcasting. According to the instructions, information assistants, technical personnel or other qualified personnel will also be appointed according to the number of polling stations selected by the District Election Officer. These technical personnel will be called webcasting officers and will manage the webcasting system smoothly.” He mentioned that it should be ensured that all webcasting officers get the necessary training.