July-September 2018

14th Edition

AC C E S S I B L E
2018
ELECTI N
 Contents
1. From the Editorial Board................................................ 1

2. The Theme........................................................................ 2

3. Capacity Building.......................................................... 10

4. International Cooperation............................................ 13

5. IT/ICT Initiatives............................................................. 16

6. SVEEP (Voter Awareness)........................................... 18

7. Important Information and Update............................. 21

i. Electoral Roll: 2nd Special Summary

Revision of Electoral Rolls....................................21
ii. ECI Assures Supply of VVPATs &
EVMs is on Track....................................................22
iii. Biennial and Bye Elections
(July-September 2018)...........................................23
iv. Election Expenditure Policy.......................... 23
v. Appointments..........................................................23
vi. Media and Communication...................................24
vii. Pre-Certification of Political Advertisements....26
viii. Political Party Meeting..........................................26
ix. In-house Activities.................................................28

EDITORIAL BOARD EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE

Sh. Dhirendra Ojha Sh. Pawan Diwan
Director General Under Secretary
Sh. K. F. Wilfred Sh. Arunesh Kumar
Sr. Principal Secretary Section Officer
Sh. Sumit Mukherjee Ms. Najma Ahmed
Principal Secretary Media Support Executive
Sh. Ajoy Kumar Ms. Khushboo Singh
Secretary Media Support Executive
 From the Editorial Board
I
t is a moment of immense pride and delight for
me to share with you the fourteenth edition of
the ECI Newsletter (July-September 2018).
Each and every quarter brings out the very best
of Election Commission’s painstaking efforts and
initiatives which are undertaken in order to ensure
“no voter to be left behind”. It is a matter of great joy
to share that in this quarter, we have yet again found
relevant issues pertaining to Indian elections and
democracy. The abiding purpose of this Newsletter
is to keep all stakeholders informed with regards to
the new initiatives and activities undertaken by the
Commission to strengthen the foundation of Indian
democracy.
In this issue, you will find significant information
regarding various events, activities and steps
undertaken towards “Accessible Election”.
Empowering the Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)
with their basic political right of voting and with
all necessary information regarding the electoral
process, is one of the most valued and sincere efforts
of ECI to attain a completely inclusive election.
Information regarding the recently concluded bye-
elections and biennial elections held in the States
of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Meghalaya are
also included. Apart from these, there are articles
specifically mentioning about the launch of ‘cVigil’
application, International Visits, In-house activities
like celebration of Hindi Divas in ECI Headquarters,
updates on new appointments etc. This edition
is focusing on information pertaining to the new
initiatives undertaken and important information
issued by the Commission, IT initiatives introduced
and implemented by the Commission for smooth
conduct of the electoral process, stringent
expenditure mechanisms, and significant voter
awareness practices. In the Social Media section, the
public sentiment on Social Media platform about
ECI and the highest engaged posts of the ECI’s
official facebook page can be observed.
This Newsletter is a symbol of Election Commission
of India’s consistent growth and its perseverance in
fulfilling its responsibilities towards its stakeholders.
I am certain, that this edition of the Quarterly
Newsletter will once again truly reflect the Election
Commission’s fervent commitment towards the
nation and presage the developments ahead as in
its previous editions.
Dhirendra Ojha
Director General
1
 The Theme
Accessible Elections:
Inclusive Electoral System and Beyond
A
ccessible Election has been one of the priority
areas for the Election Commission of India
(ECI). ECI’s circulars, directives and policy
guidelines issued from time to time themselves
convey the initiatives taken in this regard. Official
directives dated March 12, and September 7, 2016
besides earlier directions of 2004, 2005 and 2007 are
some of the Commission’s directions on the subject
of inclusive elections with persons with disabilities
(PwD) electors. These comprehensive directions
cover a series of action points for registration,
mapping, facilitation, voter education, removal
of barriers and other key areas of electoral cycle
relevant to inclusion for equal access to the PwDs.
In this context, ECI has given special emphasis
on inclusion of PwD in its Strategic Plan 2016-25.
Keeping the relevance and importance of the subject
intact, ‘Accessible Election’ was adopted by the ECI
as the central theme for this year’s National Voters’
Day 2018. An International Conference on ‘Inclusion
2
of PwDs in the Electoral Process’ was also organized
by the Commission on 24th January, 2018.
The National Consultation on
Accessible Election
As a part of ECI’s theme for the year 2018-
‘Accessible Elections’, Election Commission of India
organized a two days National Consultation on
3rd and 4th July, 2018, at ‘The Lalit’, New Delhi.
The Consultation was a culmination of more than
3-month long series of District-Level and State-Level
Workshops undertaken to identify barriers in the
inclusion of PwDs in the electoral process, assess
the present accessibility policies in place and put
forward recommendations for addressing barriers
to enhance the participation of the differently-abled.
The National Consultation received insightful inputs
from participation of more than 50 Civil Society
Organizations and all the Chief Electoral Officers
of States/UTs besides members of National Political
Parties and Ministries, Government of India.
Ahead of the National Consultation, a series
of Consultations with the stakeholders were
conducted in Districts and States level within
February to July 2018 to identify the existing
barriers and challenges, ways to overcome them,
draft strategies to increase their participation assess
the implementation of the directives given by
Commission on the subject, consolidate and gain
from good practices (including innovations and
technological support) and for further engagement
with the stakeholders. The reports received from
the Districts and States were taken up as key
agenda documents for State and National Level
Consultations and also aided for policy making,
serving a role in further enriching aspects relating
to the inclusion of PwDs particularly with regard to
their registration and voting.

Chief Election Commissioner Sh. O. P. Rawat, Election Commissioners Sh. Sunil Arora and Sh. Ashok Lavasa along with
senior officers of Election Commission of India during the National Consultation.
Overall, the State Consultation Reports provided
consolidated data on polling station-wise mapping
of PwD electors not registered on the electoral roll,
PwD friendly and accessible websites of CEOs/
DEOs, specially-abled specific Voter Facilitation
Centres, accessible voter awareness resources,
special registration and sensitization camps for
the concerned electorate, partnering with PwDs
as District/State Icons, collaboration with subject-
specific NGOs/CSOs, training and sensitization of
the election machinery, engagement of volunteers
in facilitation-support, accessibility enhancements
at the polling station level, appointment of district-
level Nodal Officers for PwD Voters, etc. Apart from
carrying key recommendations on the following,
the State Reports delved upon Physical, Attitudinal,
Social, Policy, Transportation and Communication
barriers presently facing the PwD electorate as
well as methods to address the concerns via a set of
rationally-rooted Action Points.
● Accessible registration process including Use of IT
● Accessible Polling Station including EVM/
VVPAT and other Facilitation Measures
● Voter Education and Leveraging Partnerships
Reaffirming ECI’s commitment to make elections
entirely inclusive, accessible and hassle free for
PwDs, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sh. O. P.
ECI NEWS LETTER July-September 2018 (14th Edition)
Rawat said “Despite having International, National
laws and treaties or procedures in place, there is still
a gap in reaching out to PwDs because of the apathy
towards electoral process.” The CEC also urged all
election officers to work hard at ground level to
ensure that PwDs could participate in election with
utmost ease.
As assured by the CEC during the Consultation,
for the first time disability coordinators are being
deployed at district level to assist PwDs for
the elections in the five states in the months of
November and December 2018. He also added
that the Commission will develop a mobile App to
educate PwDs.
Election Commissioner Sh. Sunil Arora said, “We
should go far beyond the bureaucratic measures to
overcome the barriers. Technology has the capability
to fill the gaps and it shall be explored to its fullest
potential”. During the session Election Commissioner
Sh. Ashok Lavasa reinstated the importance of
collaboration with stakeholders and society as
a whole, while laying emphasis on awareness
initiatives and spirit of volunteering among people
to make the entire electoral process accessible.
The Department of Empowerment of Persons
with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice
and Empowerment, Chief Electoral Officers of
3
 STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2018
Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand and Meghalaya and District Election
Officer of Mandya, Karnataka also shared their
Best Practices on Accessible Elections through their
presentations. Dedicated Technical Sessions were
conducted on the subject of ‘Accessible Registration
Process including use of Information Technology’,
‘Accessible Polling Station including EVM-VVPAT
and Other Facilitation Measures’and ‘Voter Education
and Outreach for Persons with Disabilities’.
During the Consultation, Election
Commission of India launched its
new accessible website on Systematic
Voters’ Education and Electoral
Participation (SVEEP) http://ecisveep.nic.in/ and a
dedicated logo for “Accessible Election”, keeping
in mind that the accessibility of information to the
disabled persons may not remain a barrier.
Chief Election Commissioner Sh. O. P. Rawat also
launched the Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC)
with Braille enabled information. Marking the first
step towards this initiative, two visually impaired
electors were provided with the Braille EPIC cards
during the National Consultation itself.
Chief Election Commissioner Sh. O. P. Rawat, Election
Commissioners Sh. Sunil Arora and Sh. Ashok Lavasa
providing Braille EPIC to Visually Impaired Electrol during
the Consultation.
Strategic Framework on Accessible Elections:
After the thematic technical sessions, State level
reports and suggestions and inputs from experts,
4
a Strategic Framework on Accessible Elections was
released by the Chief Election Commissioner Sh. O. P.
Rawat, Election Commissioners Sh. Sunil Arora
and Sh. Ashok Lavasa. Ten important measures
were announced for the facilitation of PwDs so as
to make electoral process more accessible in the
recently announced Assembly Elections for the five
States, General Election to Lok Sabha 2019 and all
forthcoming elections which are as follows:
1. Printing of EPIC (Electors Photo Identity
Card) with Braille for Persons with Visual
Impairment or Blind: To ensure participation of
visually impaired persons in the electoral process
Election Commission of India announced the
introduction of EPIC with information engraved
with Braille on it, specifically for blind and
visually impaired electors.
2. Accessible Communication Awareness
Materials: ECI has adopted all its new awareness
material for the PwD electors, keeping in mind
the accessibility feature and making it available
through accessible medium. For instance some
EVM-VVPAT, voter awareness videos spots/
cinemas of 30-60 seconds duration are being
produced with sign language interpretation
for viewers with hearing disability. The Chief
Electoral Officers have also been directed to
convert these films in vernacular languages of
their respective states for awareness generation
and participation of voters on upcoming elections.
3. A Mobile Application to Motivate and
Educate: ECI has announced to launch a mobile
application specially designed to educate the
persons with disabilities.
 ECI NEWS LETTER July-September 2018 (14th Edition)

4. Appointment of Disability Coordinators at and advertisement content material for the

AC, District and State Level: In the forthcoming convenience of deaf persons.
Elections, ECI would deploy disability 9. Free Transport Facility for PwDs and their
coordinators at Assembly Constituencies, Assistants: ECI has issued directions to provide
District and State level to ensure the mapping, pick-and-drop facility for all PwDs voters on
coordination and availability of all relevant polling day. On 27th September 2018, ECI has
information and facilities during elections till the issued a few directions towards implementing
poll day. In furtherance towards implementing free transport facility for PwDs and their
all the parameters of the Strategy Framework assistants as a parameter of the Strategy
at State, District and Assembly Constituency Framework and to ensure participation and
levels, Election Commission of India has issued active engagement of PwDs in the election
instructions (on 27th September 2018 ) to all process; following are a few directions related
the CEOs of States and Union Territories to to the same:
appoint Coordinators for Inclusion of PwDs in i. There should be proper transport facility
electoral process at State, District and Assembly for PwDs in each and every polling station
Constituency levels. They were advised to on the day of poll. Government vehicles to
deploy officials as coordinators for inclusions be used for this purpose.
of PwDs in electoral process for every state,
ii. The DEO/RO shall be responsible for entire
district and AC, respectively.
transportation exercise for PwDs.
5. Cascaded Training on Accessibility to Poll iii. A Transport Nodal Officer shall be
Officials: Directions have been issued for appointed for each district.
training and sensitization of polling personnel,
iv. Each and every PwDs should be tagged
officials handling the work relating facilitation of
polling station-wise and they should be
PwDs on the poll day. Training and sensitization
picked-up from their residence and be
of the election machinery, engagement of
dropped back there, after they finished
volunteers in facilitation-support, accessibility
casting their votes.
enhancements at the polling station level,
appointment of district-level Nodal Officers for
PwD Voters, etc. are also to be undertaken.
6. Auxiliary Polling Stations: Provisions have been
made for setting up auxiliary polling stations
for convenience of the PwDs if required for the
upcoming elections.
7. Accessible Photo Voter Slips: To ensure
wholesome and constructive participation
and active engagement of PwDs in the election
process, the Commission has directed to issue
Accessible Photo Voter Slips with Braille
features to Persons with Visual Impairment
or Blind over and above Normal Photo Voter
Slips for the forthcoming elections.
8. Provision for Sign Language window should
also we made in all the audio visual training

5
 STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2018
10. A new Accessible Division should be created
in India International Institute of Democracy
and Electoral Management (IIIDEM), New
Delhi.
The strategic framework on accessible elections
is built around sensitization through education
and training, community involvement of different
sections of society, effective partnership with
institutions and originations and creation of
facilities to cater to the specific needs of PwDs with a
view to increasing their participation. The Strategic
Framework includes the following components:
1. Barriers: Continuous Identification and
Solutions: Identifying barriers and finding
solutions to the same has to be a continuous
process. A system of regular, periodic feedback
shall be taken up. Well-designed approach with
strategic interventions including technology
integration can help in obliterating barriers.
2. Voter Registration & Polling: Database on
PwDs, identified through mapping or initial
voter registration, shall be efficiently and
effectively used for follow-up steps in the
electoral process and the monitoring system for
feedback, evaluation and consolidation. Polling
Technical Session during the National Consultation on Accessible Election
6
stations shall be made accessible to all persons
with disabilities based on mapping of PwD
electors and their specific needs.
3. Inclusive Voter Education: Customised voter
education to cater to the different requirements
of PwDs shall be taken up to empower them
for electoral participation. All voter education
content shall be in accessible format. Focused
and need based interventions shall be taken
up under ECI’s flagship voter education
programme SVEEP to engage PwDs and also to
sensitise their friends, families, polling officials,
security officials and all other stakeholders.
4. Leveraging Technology for Accessible
Elections: This would essentially include (i)
User friendly websites for PwDs of different
categories. (ii) Accessible Technological Tools
for facilitating PwDs of different categories
to cast their vote. (iii) Solutions for assisting
voters with disabilities through technological
innovation, research and integration. (iv)
Accessible Media including Social Media
Communications.
5. Research, Study and Knowledge Sharing: A
continuous search for best practices, international
and domestic, through detailed study and

research on all areas of participation by PwDs
and sharing of experiences to help formulate
enabling policies and interventions, to aid, assist
and facilitate the participation of PwDs.
6. Role of Partner Departments: To explore
and build partnership and commitment with
Ministries and Departments to evolve and carry
forward the interventions to facilitate electoral
participation of PwDs.
7. Role of Educational Institutions: The
Commission has already issued directions for
setting up of Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs) in
educational institutions etc. Setting up of ELCs
in educational institutions dedicated to the
PwDs shall be expedited and the ELC resources
shall be customised to match disability
requirements.
8. Role of CSOs: To assess the potential of CSO’s
and assign them specific role in assisting equal
access and capacity building through well
designed partnerships. CSO’s potential to build
partnerships should be utilised subject to their
non-partisan nature.
9. Role of Media: To utilise the potential of
media in taking forward voter education and
to engage PwDs for increasing their electoral
participation. Media can actively contribute
to an effective and successful integration of
persons with disabilities in the electoral process.
10. Poll Volunteers: Poll volunteers from among
future voters can be organised from educational
institutions, and Chunav Pathshala, (ELCs for
Communities) and trained to assist PwDs,
besides from among NCC/NSS/NYKS and other
non-partisan voluntary groups. The initiative
will be subject to provisions of Rule 49N.
11. Training and Sensitization of Staff: Training
and sensitization of the election staff is
important so that they are empathetic to the
needs of PwD voters. The training shall be
factored into regular training to the staff as also
for the registration and facilitation of the PwDs.
ECI NEWS LETTER July-September 2018 (14th Edition)
12. Alternative Voting Methods: Alternative
voting methods like advance voting or
early voting, voting from home, postal vote,
transport assistance to PwDs or mobile polling
station concept shall be looked at without
compromising on the essential requirements of
sanctity and secrecy of vote.
13. Legislative Initiative: The scope of assistance
to PwDs for participation is wide and diverse.
Need for legislation shall be examined for
enhancing electoral participation of the PwDs.
14. Special Four Tiered Committees on
Accessible Elections: Committees shall
be formed at National, State, District and
Assembly Constituency level with members
from departments as well as stakeholders to
review implementation of the directions of the
Commission on ‘Accessible Elections’.
The Commission is committed to building an
equal access framework for PwDs supported by
the fundamentals of responsiveness, respect and
dignity to enhance elector confidence among
them; and support initiatives for improved service
offerings to enhance their electoral participation.
The set of Recommendations of the National
Consultation is expected to pave way for a policy
document on ‘Accessible Elections’ and action plan
for the upcoming elections.
7
 STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2018
ECI Initiatives
The Election Commission of India always paid
special attention to the inclusion of persons with
disability and issued instructions time and again
for various provisions to address the issues related
to electoral inclusion of PwDs. Out of turn voting
and need-based companion (booth assistance/
volunteers for PwDs), Braille-enabled voter slips,
ramps for easier mobility of the wheelchair, are
becoming a regular feature of the elections.
Accessible Website: The incorporated accessibility
features comply with the international standards
such as Skip to Main Content, Screen Reader Access,
Descriptive Link Text, Identification of file type
and file size, Friendly URL, Table Headers, Table
caption and summary, Headings, Titles, Alternate
Text, Explicit Form Label Association, Consistent
Navigation Mechanism, Keyboard Support,
Customized Text Size, Adjust contrast scheme, User
Control for content.
Sign Language Training: Towards the goal of
Accessible Election, Election Commission of India
has also organised a Sign Language Training Session
for officials of the Commission in collaboration
with ISLRTC (Indian Sign Language Research and
Training Centre) on September 12, 2018 at ECI
Headquarters in New Delhi. The objective of the
workshop was to sensitise election officials to the
needs of PwDs to ensure a better response towards
them and facilitate them during elections.
Braille-Enabled Voter Slips: To ensure wholesome
and constructive participation and active
engagement of PwDs in the election process,
Election Commission of India has issued Accessible
Photo Voter Slips with Braille Features to Persons
with Visual Impairment or Blind, over and above
normal Photo Voter Slips to be issued.
Polling Station Facilitation for PwDs: Election
Commission of India issued instructions to ensure
that as far as practicable, all polling stations are
located at ground floor and sturdy ramps are
provided for the convenience of differently-abled
electors with wheel-chairs.
8
Further, in order to provide targeted and need-
based facilitation to differently-abled voters, ECI
has directed that all Persons with Disabilities
(PwDs) in an Assembly Constituency are identified
and tagged to their respective Polling Stations
and necessary disability-specific arrangements
made for their smooth and convenient voting
experience on the poll day. Identified PwDs will
be assisted by volunteers appointed by RO/DEO.
Special facilitations are made for PwDs electors
at Polling Stations. Also, it has been directed
that differently-abled electors are given priority
for entering polling booths, provision made for
designated parking spaces close to the entrance
of polling premise and special care to be provided
to electors with speech and hearing impairment.
Special focus has been laid for the sensitization
of the polling personnel regarding the unique
needs of the differently-abled. The Commission
has directed the Chief Electoral Officers that there
should be proper transport facility for PwDs in
each and every polling station on the day of poll.
Each and every PwD voter will be provided free
pass on public transport on poll day.
Introduction of Braille Signage Features in
Electronic Voting Machines: One of the remarkable
steps implemented by ECI was enabling Braille
signage feature on the Balloting Unit of EVM.
Following an extensive trial run in several Bye-
Elections and State Assembly Elections in the year
2004, 2005 and 2006 and the General Elections of
year 2009 saw the introduction of Braille on EVMs.
The numeric stickers in Braille are pasted to the
right of the blue voting buttons on the Balloting
Unit. This was done after receiving representation
from the various Associations of Visually Impaired

Persons for introduction of Braille signage features
in the EVMs to facilitate the visually impaired voters
to cast their votes without the help of attendant.
The good practices adopted in the Electoral Process
in the Accessible Election year 2018 had given away
encouraging results so far, especially in the Assembly
Elections in the states of Meghalaya, Madhya
Pradesh and Karnataka, which are mentioned in the
earlier editions of our ECI Newsletter.
Election Commission of India, like many other
country’s Election Management Bodies, has also
implemented a number of well-defined steps to
include the differently abled in the electoral process
and provide them an equal opportunity with other
citizens, to shape political outcomes for the country.
Provisions and Guidelines
The matter of accessible and all-inclusive
participation of all stakeholders in the democratic
electoral process of the country without any
discrimination finds encouraging place in the
Constitutional Provisions too besides ample existing
policy and guidelines of Election Commission
of India. Indian Constitution Article 326 of the
Constitution provides that Elections to the house of
the People and to the Legislative Assembly of every
ECI NEWS LETTER July-September 2018 (14th Edition)
State shall be on the basis of adult suffrage. Every
citizen of India not less than eighteen years of age on
such date as may be fixed in that behalf by law and
is not otherwise disqualified and shall be entitled to
be registered as a voter at any such election.
Provisions under rule 49N of the Conduct of
Election rules, 1961, ECI guidelines, and Supreme
Court orders directly address the issue of assistance
to PwDs. Under rule 49N, if owing to blindness
or other physical infirmities an elector is unable
to recognize the symbol on the EVM or unable to
record vote by pressing the appropriate button
thereon, the Presiding Officer shall permit the
elector to take with him a companion of not less than
eighteen years of age to the voting compartment for
recording the vote on his behalf and in accordance
with his wishes.
The rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016
Section 11 of Chapter II of the Act (Rights and
Entitlements) talks about accessibility in voting stating
that the Election Commission of India and the State
Election Commissions shall ensure that all polling
stations are accessible to persons with disabilities and
all materials related to the electoral process are easily
understandable by and accessible to them.
Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in the electoral
process has been one of the significant areas of the
Commission for long and holds a prominent status
under its Strategic Plan 2016-2020. Emphasis has
been laid on enhancing participation, strengthening
facilitation, moulding public perceptions about
the potential of PwDs, including their voice as
equal citizens and set the stage for their social and
economic integration. A lot has already been done,
and more is being envisaged. A well designed
framework of guidelines is being put in place under
the directions of the Election Commission of India
rendering requisite amenities targeted right to the
polling station level for specially-abled electors.
With all its elector centric activities Election
Commission of India is soon to attain its wholesome
objective of including all its stakeholders and
making all forthcoming Indian Elections Accessible
for all.
9
 Capacity Building
India International Institute of
Democracy & Election Management

D
uring the quarter July to
September, 2018, India
International Institute of
Democracy & Election Management
(IIIDEM) had conducted 36 training
and capacity development programmes
for election officials. This includes 30
National Training Programmes and
six International Capacity Building
Programmes. Glimpses of the training
activities are provided below.

ECI official with officials of UEC, Myanmar

International Programmes
The following six International Training and Capacity Building Programmes were conducted by IIIDEM
between July–September 2018:

Programme Name of the Programme Participants Venue Dates No. of

Type Trainees

Training Capacity Building of Media Media Officials from New Delhi 9-13 July, 10
Officials Bhutan 2018
Study Visit Study Visit from IEC, Commissioner of IEC, New Delhi 9-12 July, 4
Lesotho Lesotho and IEC Officers 2018
Training Capacity Development for Officials of UEC, New Delhi 16-25 July, 25
Officials of UEC, Myanmar Myanmar 2018
Training Capacity Development Election Officers of New Delhi 5-10 August, 28
on Voter Registration for Myanmar, South Africa, 2018
Election Managers of ITEC Bangladesh, Palestine,
Countries Tajikistan, Mauritius,
Cambodia, Malawi.

Training Capacity Development Election Officers of New Delhi 2-7 September, 28

on use of Electoral
Technology in Election
Management for Election
Managers of ITEC
Countries
Myanmar, South Africa, 2018
Bangladesh, Palestine,
Tajikistan, Mauritius,
Cambodia, Malawi,
Mauritius, Kazakhstan,
Guyana

Training Train the Facilitators, UEC Officials of UEC, Myanmar Naypyitaw, 17-21 September, 25
Myanmar Myanmar 2018

10

National Programmes
During the quarter July to September, 2018, a total of
30 training programmes were conducted by IIIDEM at
the national level, which are broadly categorized into
the following five types:
i. Certification Course for Returning Officers (RO)
and Assistant ROs
ii. Training Programme for State Level Master
Trainers (SLMT)
iii. Orientation-cum-Training Programme for the
Chief Electoral Officers (CEO) of states
iv. Training Programme for Police Nodal Officers
v. Case Study Writing Workshop for Election
Officials
Certification Course for Returning Officers (RO)
and Assistant Returning Officers (ARO)
During the quarter July to September, 2018, 19
Certification Courses for ROs and AROs have been
conducted in the poll bound states of Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram.
ROs and AROs have been trained and evaluated
by the National Level Master Trainers (NLMTs)
and ECI officials. Training sessions were conducted
on different topics of the poll process in India viz.
qualifications and disqualifications of candidates,
nomination and scrutiny, poll process, EVM-VVPAT,
model code of conduct, IT facilities, declaration of
results, counting, etc.
Training Programme for State Level Master
Trainers (SLMT)
Election training is imparted in a cascaded model
and SLMTs constitute an important tier in the
ECI NEWS LETTER July-September 2018 (14th Edition)
pyramidal training structure. Therefore, training
of SLMTs by NLMTs and ECI officials is a regular
activity. During the quarter July to September,
2018, seven training programmes for the SLMTs
from the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Telangana and Odisha have been organized. A
total of 268 SLMTs have been trained and evaluated
during this period.
Orientation-cum-Training Programme for CEOs
An Orientation-cum-Training Programme for the
CEOs of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala,
Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Mizoram, Odisha,
Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana was conducted
from 18-21 July, 2018 in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The
Hon’ble Commission attended the programme.
Training Programme for Police Nodal Officers
Police Nodal Officers from the poll bound states
of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and
Mizoram were trained on 5th September, 2018 in
New Delhi. A total of 44 Police Nodal Officers were
trained in two batches.
Case Study Writing Workshop for Election
Officials
A Case Study Writing Workshop was conducted
during 3-4 July, 2018 at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra
in New Delhi. Prof. Satyajit Majumdar and Dr.
Gordhan Saini from Tata Institute of Social Sciences
(TISS), Mumbai conducted the workshop. The
participants included officers from the Secretariat
of the ECI and officers from states.
First Ever Orientation Workshop on Election
Management for IAS Officers
Election Commission of India conducted
a day-long Orientation Workshop for IAS
Officers of the 2016 Batch in New Delhi today.
The workshop was aimed at familiarising the
Assistant Secretaries with all facets of Electoral
Management before they are required to handle
crucial assignments in conducting Elections in
their field postings soon.
11
 STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2018
CEC, EC and other senior officers of ECI with the participants of the workshop
Addressing the young officers, Chief Election
Commissioner Sh. O. P. Rawat reminded them of the
IAS Academy theme song “Hao Dharmete Dheer,
Hao Karomete Bir, Hao Unnato Shir-Naahi Bhay
i.e. “Be firm in your faith, be courageous in action,
keep your head erect-fear not”) exhorting them to
fearlessly shoulder their responsibilities in coming
days. Recapitulating early history of how even the
Electoral Roll had to be arduously compiled in
post-partition circumstances, Sh. Rawat apprised
the officers of the impeccable reputation India
has now internationally attained in conducting
efficient and peaceful elections. The Chief Election
Commissioner also asked the officers to be
prepared for facing the newer challenges like data
harvesting; targeted messaging & profiling; money
and media influencers. He advised the officers to
facilitate all stakeholders but to enforce discipline
without laxity and with firmness, assuring them
that the Commission would always back the officers
upholding the law.
Election Commissioner Sh. Ashok Lavasa in
his address to the officers reiterated the values
of Impartiality and Neutrality in their conduct

12
in ensuring lawful decisions even under trying
circumstances to deliver the best possible services
to the People of India. He said practical application
of all the Rules/information imparted today in
the workshop, along with their ability to harness
technology, would stand them in good stead when
they need to be the Commission’s interface with
voters in the field.
The day long programme consisted of sessions, taken
by senior officers of the Commission, on Election
Planning; deployment of observers, Systematic
Voters Education and Electoral Participation
(SVEEP) activities, Process of drawing up the
Electoral Rolls, Polling Stations Management, Use
of Information and Communication Technology
in electoral process and Knowledge of Legal
framework.
The sessions also included an exposure on key
instructions and guidelines of the ECI’s Model
Code of Conduct, Handling of Electronic Voting
Machines and VVPATs issues, Expenditure
Management as also Media & Social Media related
aspects.
 International Cooperation
July, 2018
● A group of 30 foreign officials from Bangladesh
Parliamentary Secretariat (Recommended by
BPST Lok Sabha Secretariat) visited Election
Commission of India on 12th July, 2018. They
were briefed by Sh. Umesh Sinha, Sr. Deputy
Election Commissioner and Sh. Chandra
Bhushan Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner
along with Sh. Dhirendra Ojha, Director General
and Ms. Padma Angmo, Director, Election
Commission of India on “How elections are
conducted in India and the best electoral practices”.
Sh. Umesh Sinha, Sr. Deputy Election Commissioner,
Sh. C. B. Kumar, DEC and Sh. Dhirendra Ojha,
Director General with the participants from
Bangladesh Parliamentary Secretariat
● Sh. O. P. Rawat, Chief Election Commissioner of
India accompanied by Sh. Sunil Arora, Election
Commissioner of India, Sh. Umesh Sinha,
Senior Deputy Election Commissioner and
Sh. Sudeep Jain, Deputy Election Commissioner
attended the 17th Cambridge Conference on
Electoral Democracy held at Cambridge, United
Kingdom from 26-27 July, 2018.
● Sh. F. R. Kharkongor, Chief Electoral Officer,
Meghalaya and Sh. K. G. Jagadeesha, Additional
Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka visited
Cambodia to participate as International
Observers in the International Election
Observation Program during the election of
members to the National Assembly of the 6th
Legislature held on 29th July, 2018.
● Eight member delegation from Election
Commission of India visited Zimbabwe from 20th
July, 2018 to 5th August, 2018 to participate as
International Observers during the forthcoming
General Elections in Zimbabwe, 2018.
August, 2018
● A group of 25 Diplomats from Nigeria Secretariat
(Recommended by Ministry of External Affairs)
visited Election Commission of India on 7th
August, 2018. They were briefed by Sh. Umesh
Sinha, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner
along with Sh. Dhirendra Ojha, Director General,
Election Commission of India on “the Conduct of
Elections in the Largest Democracy in the World”.
Nigeria Delegation during the Briefing Session
13
 STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2018

Sh. Ashok Lavasa, Election Commissioner, Sh. Umesh Sinha, Sr. Deputy Election Commissioner and
Sh. Dhirendra Ojha, Director General, ECI with a group of Permanent Representatives of United Nations from different
countries visiting the Election Commission of India

● Mrs. Rachana Gupta, Joint Director (Official
Language), Election Commission of India
visited Mauritius to participate in the 11th World
Hindi Conference (Vishwa Hindi Sammelan)
organized by the Ministry of External Affairs
from 18-20th August, 2018.
● On the recommendation of Ministry of
● A group of 48 foreign participants from 20
countries (Recommended by BPST Lok Sabha
Secretariat) visited Election Commission of
India on 21st August, 2018. They were briefed by
Sh. Chandra Bhushan Kumar, Deputy Election
● Sh. Ashwani Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer,
Sh. Chandra Bhushan Kumar, Deputy Election
Commissioner and Sh. Dhirendra Ojha, Director General,
ECI with a group of Foreign Parliamentary Officials from
various countries visiting the Election Commission of India
Headquarter
Commissioner along with Sh. Dhirendra Ojha,
Director General and Ms. Padma Angmo,
Director, Election Commission of India on “How
elections are conducted in India and the best electoral
practices”.
External Affairs, a high level delegation from
United Nations, comprising of 13 Permanent
Representatives (Ambassadors) from different
countries visited Election Commission of India
on 23rd August, 2018. Sh. Ashok Lavasa,
Election Commissioner had interacted with the
delegation. Sh. Umesh Sinha, Sr. DEC along with
Sh. Dhirendra Ojha, Director General briefed
the delegation on the “Conduct of Elections in the
Largest Democracy in the World”.
Maharashtra and Sh. Abhijit Sinha, Chief
Electoral Officer, Nagaland visited Sri Lanka
to participate in the 4th Asian Electoral
Stakeholders Forum (AESF-IV) from 27-28
August, 2018 organized by Election Commission
of Sri Lanka and Asian Network for Free
Elections (ANFREL) from 27-28 August, 2018.

14

September, 2018
● Sh. Ashoka Lavasa, Election Commissioner
of India accompanied by Sh. Pushpendra
Rajput, Chief Electoral Officer, Himachal
Pradesh and Sh. Kushal Pathak, Director (ICT)
visited Bangladesh from 5-7 September, 2018
to participate in the 9th Meeting of Forum of
Election Management Bodies of South Asia
(FEMBoSA).
● Visit of 5 member delegation from Election
Commission of India to Myanmar from
15-22 September, 2018 to conduct a Training
of Trainers and Facilitators Programme for the
officers of the Union Election Commission of
Myanmar.
● On the recommendation of High Commission
of the Republic of Singapore in New Delhi,
a group of 38 Foreign Service Officers and
Singapore Civil Servants from various
ministries visited Election Commission of India
on 17th September, 2018. They were briefed by
Sh. Chandra Bhushan Kumar, Deputy Election
Commissioner along with Sh. K. F. Wilfred,
Senior Principal Secretary and Ms. Padma
Angmo, Director, Election Commission of India
on “India’s Electoral System”.
Foreign Service Officers and Singapore Civil Servants from various ministries during the briefing session

ECI NEWS LETTER July-September 2018 (14th Edition)
● On the recommendation of Ministry of External
Affairs, a group of 25 Diplomats from 40
countries visited the Election Commission
of India on 26th September, 2018. They were
briefed by Sh. Umesh Sinha, Sr. Deputy Election
Commissioner along with Sh. Chandra Bhushan
Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner and Sh.
Dhirendra Ojha, Director General, ECI on “How
elections are conducted in India and the best electoral
practices”.
Sh. Umesh Sinha, Sr. Deputy Election Commissioner and
Ms. Padma Angmo, Director with Foreign Diplomats from
various countries during the briefing session
● A group of four-member delegation led by
Adv. Ms. Mamosebi Pholo, Commissioner,
Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of
Lesotho visited the Election Commission of India
on 9th July, 2018. The delegation met with Sh. O. P.
Rawat, Chief Election Commissioner of India.
15
 IT/ICT Initiatives

Launch of cVIGIL Application All they need to do

is, click a picture or
‘cVIGIL’, an online android based mobile record a video of the
application, for citizens to report violations of activity and describe it
Model Code of Conduct during the election period, before uploading the
was launched by the Election Commission of India same on the mobile
on 4th July, 2018. The application is called ‘cVIGIL’ application, and
denotes Vigilant Citizen and the proactive and then the information
responsible role he/she can play in the conduct of will be notified to
free and fair elections. the District Control
Room. This will enable
“cVIGIL” allows a person in the election bound the flying squads
state to report any violations of the Model Code of to reach the spot
Conduct (MCC). With the help of this app, citizens immediately. With
can immediately report incidents of political the announcement
misconduct within minutes of having witnessed of assembly elections
them and without having to rush to the office of the in the States of
Returning Officer. Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram,

Chief Election Commissioner Sh. O. P. Rawat; Election Commissioners Sh. Sunil Arora and Sh. Ashok Lavasa during the
launch of cVIGIL App. Sr. Deputy Election Commissioner Sh. Umesh Sinha and Deputy Election Commissioner
Sh. Sandeep Saxena were also present.

16

Telangana and Rajasthan, the Model Code of
Conduct has also come into effect. The cVIGIL
application is made available for use by the general
public of these poll bound states.
Conduct of Regional Cyber Security
Workshops
During the quarter of July to September, four
Regional Cyber Security Workshops were
conducted by the Election Commission of India
(ECI), in which around 476 officials from 28 States
and UTs, including CEOs/ Addl./ Joint /Dy. CEOs,
DC/ ADCs, SIO/DIOs, EROs/ AEROs, SLMT and IT
staff participated. The workshops were conducted
at Coimbatore, Ranchi, Goa and Kolkata for the
Southern Zone, Central Zone, West Zone & East
Zone States/UTs respectively. Eminent speakers and
domain experts of CERT-In, NIC CERT, National
Law School of India University, Bangalore &
CDAC Bangalore, Information Security Education
& Awareness (ISEA), MeitY were invited to share
their area specific expertise in ECI’s context. The
purpose of the workshop was to:
a. Sensitize the attendees on emergent issues of
Cyber Security and the best practices from end-
users perspective to mitigate risks.
b. Prevent occurrence and recurrence of cyber
incidents by way of stakeholder engagement
with a view to elicit wilful compliance to Cyber
Security best practices and proactive actions.
Cyber Security Zonal workshop in Coimbatore on
16th July, 2018
ECI NEWS LETTER July-September 2018 (14th Edition)
Cyber Security Zonal workshop in Ranchi on
31st August, 2018
c. Brief stakeholders from participating States &
UTs about imperatives and salient provisions of
Cyber Security Regulations of the ECI.
The workshop provided a platform for the attendees
to interact with the invited domain experts and
seek clarifications to their doubts in addition to
the various organizational aspects related to Cyber
Security covered by the Chief Information Security
Officer (CISO).
Cyber Security Preparedness Review Meeting with
the representative officials of poll bound States
of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh was also
held during the Cyber Security Workshop at Goa.
Detailed review regarding server/VMs Security,
Database Security, Network Security, InfoSec
Infra, Web Applications Security and Desktop
Application Security was discussed and a checklist
on Cyber Security Preparedness was given. Based
on the status of preparedness of the two poll bound
States, appropriate cyber security measures were
suggested to the States.
Cyber Security Preparedness Review Meeting with
Officials of poll bound States of Madhya Pradesh and
Chhattisgarh during Cyber Security Workshop at
Goa on 20th September, 2018
17
 Voter Awareness
Digital Game to Promote Electoral
Literacy: ‘Mx. Democracy’
Election Commission of India
(ECI) would shortly bring
another interesting way of
educating and including its stakeholders in the
electoral process. In view of the tremendous increase
in internet penetration and smartphone usage in
the country, Election Commission of India took
the imperative decision to develop a smartphone
(Android and iOS) based digital game that
disseminates vital electoral literacy in an interesting
and engaging manner to young electors. The game
‘Mx. Democracy’ has a gender-neutral title which is
inclusive of Mr., Ms. and the third gender. Players
can build their game character as either of 3 genders
and embark upon a quest to learn how elections are
conducted in the world’s largest democracy. The
game is being developed by ECI in collaboration
with National Institute of Design (NID) Bangalore.
It is currently in the final stage of development
and testing and is expected to be released soon. To
ensure that the game has a pan-India appeal, it is
being developed with the following parameters:
1. Minimum data consumption and deterioration
in device storage/performance
Characters of Digital Game ‘Mx. Democracy’
18
2. Culturally meaningful aesthetics and costumes
3. Indian classical-fusion sound track
4. Accessibility features
5. Minimum or nil security and privacy concerns
6. Free of cost download and play
7. Bilingual - English & Hindi
The game levels have been designed to provide
a simulated experience of real-life processes
that facilitate learning through practice, failure,
discovery, repetition and experimentation. No
knowledge is force fed to player which increases
interest and takeaway learning. Player meets
characters such as BLO, ERO, Presiding Officer
etc. and discovers hidden scrolls on different game
levels that help them solve in-game challenges.
The player learns how to register as a voter, how to
make an informed and ethical choice, how to cast
their vote using EVM-VVPAT machine, the facilities
available at polling station etc. in an action-oriented
simulated environment as they progress through
the game.
Impact Assessment of Electoral Literacy
Clubs (ELCs)
To assess the effectiveness and achievements
of Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs) and Chunav
Pathshalas, the Election Commission of India
(ECI) has initiated a project ‘Electoral Literacy
Project in India: Implementation, Assessment and
Impact Analysis’ with National Law University,
(NLU) Delhi. A team of Research Scholars from
NLU with IIIDEM (India International Institute of
Democracy and Election Management) will conduct
the evaluation and effectiveness of the ELCs as to
how far the new voters and the future voters were
successfully educated about the electoral process
 ECI NEWS LETTER July-September 2018 (14th Edition)

and their electoral rights. The team has been

directed to conduct surveys throughout the country
and submit the report to ECI after visiting all the
respective States. At present ECI has established
approximately 1.7 lakh ELCs so far in the country.
The study of the assessment team will pan across
students, ELC club conveners, trainers as well as
members of Chunav Pathshala.

The assessment study is scheduled to be conducted

in many phases for different States with the first
phase currently underway. As part of the first
ground research, three states each category large,
medium and small sized based on its population
size have been chosen.

As per schedule, the NLU team will be visiting

ELCs and Chunav Pathshalas for survey in West
Bengal, the large sized state with 1000 respondents
interesting activities and hands on experience
on October first week, medium sized state
to sensitise them on their electoral rights and
Chhattisgarh with 750 respondents on October last
familiarise them with the electoral process of
week and Meghalaya the small sized state with 500
registration and voting.
respondents on first week of November.

ELCs aim to educate all the prospective voters,
which include students in educational institutes
as also the school drop-outs, women and other
marginalized sections in the community whereas
Chunav Pathshalas are ELCs specific to rural
communities, a platform to engage the community
members, mainly in rural areas, through
Sign Language Training Session for the
Officials
Election Commission of India, in its commitment
towards Accessible Elections, organised
Sign Language Training Session for officials
of the Commission in collaboration with
ISLRTC (Indian Sign Language Research and
Training Centre) on September 12, 2018 at ECI
Headquarters in New Delhi. The objective of the
workshop was to sensitise election officials to the
needs of PwDs to avail them a better response
and facilitation system during elections.

The expert trainers were from Indian Sign Language

Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) wherein
the officers were acquainted with basic as well
as election related sign languages symbols such
as Election, Identity Card, Address and Polling
Booth etc. Moreover, the officers were trained
on information related to basic etiquette while
conversing with persons with disabilities was also
SVEEP Electoral Literacy Club
shared with the officials of the Commission and

19
 STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2018
they were sensitised regarding the needs of deaf
persons. The session saw enthusiastic participation
of the officials. A whole session was dedicated to
sensitise the activity through a live demonstration
of a mock poll to understand the frequently asked
questions/ issues of the deaf voters.
The aim of the workshop was to sensitise election
officials to the needs of persons with disabilities
(PwDs) to enable a better response and facilitation
to them during the election process.
Voter Education Cinema Slides Run
Across Country
In its commitment to the virtue of ‘No voter to be
left behind’, Election Commission of India is making
continuous efforts to reach out to all sections of the
society. The Commission has directed to make wide
scale use of Cinema Slides and TV Spots for promoting
voter registration and EVM-VVPAT sensitization.
The Cinema Slides are being run as Public Service
Announcements (PSAs) at the Cinema Theatres
Officials of ECI at the Sign Langauge training programme
20
across the country in partnership with Ministry of
Information and Broadcast. TV Spots were broadcast
on Doordarshan Channel to complement electoral
roll revision. Following films are being screened as
Cinema Slides and TV Spots:
1. ‘Cafe NVSP’a 35 seconds film on Voter
Registration through NVSP portal.
2. ‘Form 7 (40 seconds) on Deletion of names of
deceased voters from electoral roll.
3. ‘Gangadas-Jamunadas’ (45 seconds) on
removing multiple entries using NVSP.
4. ‘Service Voter ETPBS’ Music Video (60 Seconds)
motivating armed forces personnel to register
themselves as Service Voters and cast their vote.
These films are also being produced with sign
language interpretation for viewers with hearing
disability. The Chief Electoral Officers have also
been directed to convert these films in vernacular
languages of their respective states for awareness
generation and participation of voters in upcoming
elections.
 Important Information and Update

Electoral Roll: 2nd Special Summary
Revision of Electoral Rolls
The Election Commission of India on 7th May,
2018 issued order for 2nd Special Summary
Revision (SSR) of Electoral Rolls with reference
to 1st January, 2018 as the qualifying date for four
states going for poll in the month of November and
December 2018 i.e. Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
Mizoram and Rajasthan, with a view to provide
further opportunity to un-enrolled persons to get
their names registered in the electoral roll so that
they are not deprived of voting in elections and to
improve the health of the electoral roll at the same
time. The final electoral roll for the poll bound states
of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram was
published on 27 September and for Rajasthan on 28
September, 2018. Due to pre-mature dissolution of
Telangana State Legislative Assembly, the Election
Commission of India has decided to stop all
activities relating to on-going revision of electoral
rolls, including last part thereof, with reference to
1st January, 2019 as the qualifying date in respect
of the State of Telangana with immediate effect
on 8th September, 2018 and ordered a 2nd Special
Summary revision of electoral rolls with reference
to 1st January, 2018 as the qualifying date in the
State of Telangana Assembly to fulfill the mandate
of conducting general election to constitute the
new State Legislative Assembly of Telangana,
at the earliest occasion. The final publication of
electoral roll will be made on 12th October, 2018
in Telangana.

Electors’ data as per finally published electoral roll

in respect of 2nd SSR, 2018 w.r.t. 1st January, 2018 as
the qualifying date is shown below:

S. Name of Electors in Final roll 2018 Total Epic Photo Total polling
No. State/UT coverage coverage station
Male Female Third Gender

1 Chhattisgarh 9296360 9249459 0 18545819 96.02 99.75 23632

2 Madhya Pradesh 26256157 24076693 1410 50334260 100 100 65341

3 Mizoram 374496 393685 0 768181 100 100 1164

4 Rajasthan 24760755 22718647 0 47479402 99.99 99.81 51796

5 Telangana 13792929 13522856 2818 27318603 100 100 32573

21
 STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2018
On 7th September, 2018, ECI issued detailed
instructions for hosting electoral roll on the CEO’s
website on the date of draft/final publication of
electoral rolls. As per the instructions, only image
PDF of electoral rolls shall be hosted on the CEO’s
website and the access to view such image PDF of
electoral rolls should be strictly provided through
CAPTCHA containing alphabet, numeral and
special character. Apart from that, two copies of the
electoral roll – one printed copy and another soft
copy (image PDF format) in CD shall be supplied
to the recognized political parties, free of cost,
immediately at the time of draft publication as
well as the final publication. Apart from the above,
unrecognized political parties/NGOs/public shall be
provided a soft copy of the electoral rolls (without
images of electors) in CD in image PDF format on
ECI Assures Supply of VVPATs & EVMs is on Track
The Commission is committed to 100% deployment
of VVPATs at all polling stations in future General,
as well as bye elections to the Lok Sabha and State
Legislative Assemblies.
The Commission has been consistently and
periodically reviewing the status of production
and supply of VVPATs with the CMDs of Bharat
Electronics Limited (BEL), Bangalore and Electronics
Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad, as
well as the Technical Expert Committee (TEC). This
is to ensure that the design, production and supply
activities of all the units of EVMs and VVPATs are
streamlined and completed in a time-bound manner
after incorporating the features suggested by the
TEC. The officers of the Commission are monitoring
the manufacturing and supply of machines on a
daily basis to ensure timely delivery and pre-poll
preparedness.
In order to meet the requirement of 100% VVPATs
for all polling stations for the upcoming Lok Sabha
Election in 2019, the Commission placed an order
of 17.45 lakh VVPATs to Bharat Electronics Limited
(BEL), Bangalore and Electronics Corporation of
22
a nominal price of Rs.100/ ( Rupees One Hundred
Only) per CD on their requests.
● Election Commission of India, has ordered on
10th September, 2018 for 2nd Special Summary
Revision w.r.t 1st January 2018 as the qualifying
date relating to service voters in the State of
Telangana for maximizing the registration
of un-enrolled eligible service personnel and
those who could not apply for such registration
during earlier summary revision. ECI has also
directed on 27th September, 2018 for de-novo
preparation of electoral rolls for certain seats of
Graduates’ and Teachers’ Constituencies of State
Legislative Council in States of Andhra Pradesh
and Telangana with reference to 1st November,
2018 as the qualifying date, so as to have fresh
electoral rolls for biennial elections.
India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad. Both the PSUs
have assured ECI that the VVPAT units will be
manufactured and supplied to the various States/
UTs comfortably before end of November, 2018.
It is also pertinent to note that comprehensive and
systematic preparatory activities for the Lok Sabha
Elections, including the detailed First Level Checking
of EVMs and VVPATs have already commenced
across various States/UTs and will be completed in
an efficient, effective and timely manner. First Level
Checks workshops and trainings of polling officials
were conducted by the Commission to minimize
EVM/VVPAT failures due to human errors.
The Election Commission of India has successfully
conducted 113 State Legislative Assembly Elections
and 03 Lok Sabha Elections using EVMs. Since, June
2017, Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)
machines have also been used successfully along
with EVMs in General as well as bye elections in all
State Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies for
enhanced voter verifiability. The Commission is fully
geared to use VVPATs in all forthcoming elections.

Biennial and Bye Elections (July-September 2018)
1. Due to the resignation of Sh. Basanguda
R. Patil (Yatnal) on 18th April, 2018 the Election
Commission of India announced Bye Election
for the said seats of Karnataka Legislative
Council from Bijapur Local Authority and
declared Sh. Sunilgouda Patil sponsored by
Indian National Congress political party as
uncontested elected member for the term up to
and including 05.01.2022.
2. Election Commission of India announced Bye
Elections in the Legislative Councils of Karnataka
by the Members of Legislative Assembly for
three casual vacancies occurred on 16th May,
2018 in the Karnataka Legislative Council due to
the resignation of three Members of Legislative
Council who got elected uncontested to the
Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
Name of Member Name of Elected Term Up to
(Vacancy) Member
K.S. Eshwarappa Naseer Ahmed 30.06.2020
Dr. G. M.C. Venugopal 30.06.2020
Parameshwara
V. Somanna H.M. Ramesha Gowda 14.06.2022
Election Expenditure Policy
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has
requested Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)
and Director Generals of Income Tax (Investigation)
to carry out verification of affidavits of assets and
liabilities of contesting candidates in the bi-ennial
elections/bye-elections to the Council of States
(Rajya Sabha) and Legislative Councils (Vidhan
Parishad) in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,
Karnataka, Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir,
Appointments
Name of States Chief Electoral Officers
Madhya Pradesh Sh. V. L. Kantha Rao, IAS (MP:1992)
Andaman & Nicobar Islands Sh. K. R. Meena, IAS (AGMUT:1993)
Rajasthan Sh. Anand Kumar, IAS (RJ:1994)
ECI NEWS LETTER July-September 2018 (14th Edition)
3. On 7th September, 2018 Election Commission
of India has announced, Bye-Election by the
Members of Legislative Assembly to fill a casual
vacancy occurred in the Maharashtra Legislative
Council due to death of Pandurang Pundlik
Fundkar on 31st May, 2018. The newly elected
member will have a term upto 24.04.2020.
4. Election Commission of India announced Bye
Election to the Legislative Assembly of Meghalaya
from 51-South Tura (ST) Assembly Constituency
to fill the vacancy in the House caused by the
resignation of Agatha K. Sangma. Poll conducted
on 23rd August, 2018. The Returning Officer
declared Conrad Kongkal Sangma sponsored
by National People’s Party duly elected for the
vacant seat on 27th August, 2018.
5. Bye election was announced on 23rd August,
2018 by the Election Commission of India to fill
the vacancy in State Legislative Assembly of
Meghalaya caused by the resignation of Sh. Martin
M Dango from the 35-Ranikor (ST) Assembly
Constituency. The Returning Officer declared Pius
Marwein sponsored by United Democratic Party
duly elected on 27th August, 2018 to fill the casual
vacancy occurred in the House.
Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. ECI implemented
Election Expenditure Monitoring mechanism
in bye-elections to 51-South Tura (ST) AC and
35-Ranikor (ST) AC, Meghalaya, 2018. Cash
amount Rs. 12.86 Lakh and illicit liquor of 6.36 litres
worth Rs. 3.25 were seized in the bye-elections to
51-South Tura (ST) AC and 35-Ranikor (ST) AC,
Meghalaya, 2018.
Date of Appointment
10.07.2018
01.08.2018
30.08.2018
23
Media and Communication
ECI’s Social Media Presence
Following are the best posts on ECI’s facebook
page during the quarter (July-September 2018)

https://www.facebook.com/ECI/

24
ECI NEWS LETTER July-September 2018 (14th Edition)

25
 STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2018
Pre-Certification of Political Advertisements
Election Commission of India reiterated the order
of Hon’ble Supreme Court dated 13th April,
2004 with regards to pre-certification of political
advertisements in electronic media. ECI has issued
the instruction on 13th September, 2018 and clarified
to all the Chief Secretaries and Chief Electoral Officers
of the States and Union Territories that the scope
and ambit of Hon’ble Supreme Court’s directions
issued under Article 142 of the Constitution of India
are applicable in the whole of territory of India at
all times and not restricted only during the period
commencing from the date of announcement of the
election schedule by the Commission and till the
completion of election process.
Training Programme
In view of the general elections of the legislative
assemblies of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
Political Party Meeting
Election Commission of India held a meeting with
all the recognised National and State Political
Parties on various electoral issues.
Election Commission of India on 27th October, 2018
held an in depth interactive session with all the
recognised National and State Political Parties on
a broad range of issues concerning various matters
pertaining to elections. The meeting was attended
by 7 National parties and 34 State parties.
Chief Election Commissioner Sh. O. P. Rawat in his
opening remark pointed out that political parties
are important stakeholders in our electoral process
and ECI always values their inputs in making the
electoral process robust, fair and credible.
Sh. Rawat observed that political parties are
initiators of reforms and act as agents for mobilizing
people and electors, enabling them to express their
political choice.
26
Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana, trainings
were conducted for all the districts of the
states through individual sessions and video
conferencing on various media related issues.
The trainings were aimed at providing robust
understanding on ECI’s guidelines on media
management and monitoring.
The officials were briefed about the roles and
responsibilities of Media Certification and
Monitoring Committee, importance of regular
interaction with media persons, measures to
tackle with instances of Paid News, Fake News
pre-certification of political advertisements,
authority letters for media persons, media
monitoring and optimum use of social media
platforms by CEOs & DEOs voters’ awareness and
dissemination of information.
Chief Election Commissioner Sh. O. P. Rawat, Election
Commissioners Sh. Sunil Arora and Sh. Ashok Lavasa
adressing the representatives of various political parties.
During the meeting, it was urged from the
representatives of political parties to put forward
their views on important issues such as transparency
in political funding, media management including
that of social media, bringing in trust and
confidence of all stakeholders in the voting and
counting process and strengthening the democracy

in our country while setting an example globally.
Chief Election Commissioner mentioned about the
challenges faced by all the democracies globally
in view of the new media and advancements in
information technology and reassured them that
ECI is taking initiatives to prevent such interference.
All the parties assured that they would extend the
requisite support in the process of preparation of
electoral roll. With respect of electoral roll political
parties gave various suggestions like:
● Copies of the list of deletion in electoral roll
should be shared with them.
● The system of Booth Level Officers should
be strengthened for better preparedness of
electoral roll.
● Avoid the festival seasons for roll revision.
● Link Aadhar numbers with electors’ details for
better electoral roll management.
The political parties expressed concern on Paid
News and suggested to make it an electoral offence
to curb this menace. Political parties also asked
that on the lines of Doordarshan and AIR, the free
airtime to political parties should be provided on
private media too for electoral campaigns.
ECI NEWS LETTER July-September 2018 (14th Edition)
All the parties appreciated the Commission’s effort
in making elections inclusive for all especially PwD
electors. They also lauded the steps taken under
SVEEP to enhance the awareness and participation
of electors. All political parties welcomed the
discussion on taking the steps for enhancing the
role of women in the electoral process.
Some political parties requested to fix a certain
percentage of VVPAT slips counting to enhance
the trust in EVM. Commission assured them that
it is being looked into with input from experts.
Commission also informed that any candidate may
approach the Returning Officer concerned for the
specific count of VVPAT of a polling station under
the law already available.
They also suggested for a ceiling on expenditure
limit for council elections, as suggested by the
Commission. For no campaign period (silence
period), they suggested for more measures in view
of current electronic and digital environment.
The meeting was concluded with ECI’s assurance to
all the political parties that each of the suggestions
will be looked into and be responded in a time
bound manner.
27
 STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2018
In-house Activities
Celebration 2018
To mark the annual event of ‘Hindi Divas’ on 14th
September ‘Hindi Fortnight’ was observed from 1st
to 15th September, 2018 in Election Commission of
India, Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi. Chief Election
Commissioner, Sh. O. P. Rawat issued an appeal to
this effect to accelerate the use of Hindi language in
day-to-day official work.
In order to spread awareness and accelerate the
progressive use of Hindi language in daily work
related communication among the officers and staff
of the ECI, few competitions were organized.
Maximum use of Hindi language in day-to-day desk
work; competition for recitation of Hindi poems
(separate evaluation for Hindi and non-Hindi
speaking personnel); dictation and general Hindi
knowledge for MTS staff; Hindi typing competition
and Hindi Quiz (written).

28
The message issued by the Union Home Minister
was read out during the function of Hindi Divas
on 14th September, 2018. Besides the usual work
of the official language section, approximately
12,000 pages on various topics were translated and
uploaded on ECI’s website during the fortnight,
as per the report submitted by the Joint Director,
Smt. Rachana Gupta during the occasion. Chief
Election Commissioner, Sh. O. P. Rawat, Election
Commissioners Sh. Sunil Arora and Ashok
Lavasa presented awards to the winners of ‘Hindi
Fortnight’ and ‘Rajbhasha Awards’ and also
encouraged other participants to maximize the
use of Hindi language without any qualms, while
giving due respect to other languages. In this era
of convergence and assimilation, use of Hindi
language in simpler form and adapting words from
other languages, wherever required to convey the
message, will be the key to enhance the richness of
the language. The CEC also suggested the Deputy
Election Commissioner (IT) to make all Electronic
Apps, tools of Hindi developed by C-DAC, Pune
available in Hindi language too. Following sections
received trophies and cash prizes this year for doing
maximum work in Hindi:
i. First prize – North III and East–I Sections
ii. Second prize – Right to Information Section
iii. Third prize – Political party–I Section
iv. Special prize – (1) Store and Purchase
(2) West–Section
(3) Communication Section
 “No Voter to be Left Behind”

Election Commission of India

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