Election Commission announces schedule for General Election Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly

The term of the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh is normally due to expire on 14th May 2007. By virtue of its powers, duties and functions under Article 324 read with Article 172(1) of the Constitution of India, Section 15 of Representation of the People Act, 1951, the Commission is under a constitutional mandate to hold general election to constitute the new Legislative Assembly in the State at anytime within a period of six months before the expiry of its present term.

ASSEMBLY CONSTITUENCIES

2. There are 403 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) in Uttar Pradesh out of which 89 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes.

ELECTORAL ROLLS

3. General Election will be conducted in the State on the basis of the electoral rolls revised with reference to 01.01.07 as the qualifying date. The Electoral roll revision process in the State has been completed and the final publication was made on 15.1.07. As per final rolls, there are 11, 43, 44, 243 electors in the State. The Commission had closely monitored the revision process by deputing 21 senior officers as observers to the State during the revision period. The electoral rolls of all the Assembly Constituencies of the State have been computerized and are available on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer, Uttar Pradesh. Electoral Rolls of the State are additionally available on ECI’s website with a search facility.

ELECTORS PHOTO IDENTITY CARDS (EPIC)

4. Identification of voters at the polling booth at the time of poll shall be mandatory. Presently, in Uttar Pradesh, EPIC coverage stands at 75.71%. The Commission has issued instructions to continue the campaign for increasing the EPIC coverage.

ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES (EVMs)

5 The Elections in the State will be conducted at all polling stations using EVMs. The Commission has already made arrangements to ensure availability of adequate number of EVMs for the smooth conduct of elections. These EVMs are the new makes with ‘time stamping’ feature.

INDELIBLE INK

6. The Commission in recent times has been adopting a new procedure for the application of indelible ink. The new procedure of applying the ink as a line running from top of the nail to the bottom of first joint of the left forefinger will be followed during the forthcoming general election also.

LAW AND ORDER AND DEPLOYMENT OF FORCES

7. Based on the assessment of ground situation, Central Para Military Forces (CPMFs) and State Armed Police (SAPs) drawn from other States will be deployed during the ensuing general election. The CPMF and SAP will be used generally for safeguarding the polling stations and for providing security to the electors and polling personnel at the polling stations on poll day. Besides, these forces will be used for securing the strong rooms where the EVMs are stored and at the counting centers. Wherever needed, the CPMF will be deployed in advance for area domination. The identification of polling stations requiring coverage by CPMF in various assembly constituencies will be made in consultation with the ECI Observers.

8. The Commission has been issuing instructions from time to time with regard to advance preventive measures to be taken by the District Magistrates and Police authorities to maintain the Law & Order and to create atmosphere conducive for the conduct of free and fair elections. The Commission will be monitoring the ground situation closely and will take appropriate measures to ensure peaceful, free and fair polls in the State.

OBSERVERS

10. The Commission will be deploying General and Expenditure Observers to ensure smooth conduct of forthcoming General Election. The Observers will be asked to keep a close watch on the electoral process to ensure free and fair elections.

CONDUCT OF OFFICIALS

11. The Commission expects all officials engaged in the conduct of elections to discharge their duties in an impartial manner without any fear or favour. Several instructions have been issued from time to time to ensure impartiality of officials who are engaged in conduct of elections. The conduct of all government officials who have been entrusted with election related responsibilities and duties would remain under constant scrutiny of the Commission and strict action shall be taken against those officials who are found wanting on any account.

12. The Commission has already given instructions that no election related official or Police officer of the rank of Sub Inspector and above shall be allowed to continue in his home district. Besides, instructions have also been issued that all the election related officials including the police officials who have completed three years in a district during last four years should be transferred out of that district. For this purpose, the posts of Sergeant Major or equivalent who is responsible for deployment of forces have also been covered for transfer under these instructions. The Government of the State has also been asked to transfer all those officers against whom the Commission has recommended disciplinary action or who have been charged for any lapse during previous elections or for any election related work, from the positions entailing any election work.

13. The Government of the State have been instructed to ensure that those who stand transferred shall move out physically of their last place of posting and not remain there on any pretext including leave.

14. The Commission has also instructed the State Government not to associate any officer with the electoral process against whom charges have been framed in a court of law in any case.

POLLING STATIONS

15. In order to facilitate voting, the Commission has decided to open auxiliary Polling Stations in the same building for the booths, where the number of electors exceeds 1500, and provide additional polling personnel at polling stations where such auxiliary polling stations cannot be opened. For the facility of disabled persons, instructions have been issued to ensure that all polling stations are located at ground floor and ramps are provided.

POLLING PARTIES AND RANDOMIZATION

16. Polling parties shall be formed randomly, using a common statewide computer programme for randomization. Three-stage randomization will be adopted. First, from a wider district database of eligible officials a shortlist of about 120% of the required numbers will be randomized. This group will be trained for polling duties. In the second stage, from this trained manpower, actual polling parties shall be formed by random selection software in the presence of ECI Observers. In the last stage, the polling stations will be allocated just before the polling party’s departure by random number generation. The Central Government Employees will be utilized for the forthcoming elections to the extent possible.

COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

18. The District Election Officers have been asked to prepare a comprehensive communication plan using multi-mode resources such as landline telephones, mobile telephones, wireless sets etc., to facilitate effective monitoring and control on the day of poll. They have also been asked to open Help lines /Control Rooms in each AC for the convenience of electors.

VIDEOGRAPHY

19. The Commission has issued detailed guidelines for video coverage of all critical events during the election process and polling at sensitive / hypersensitive polling booths on the poll day. The digital cameras will also be deployed inside the booths wherever possible.

PROTECTION TO SC/ST ELECTORS

20. As per Section 3 (1) (vii) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, whoever, not being a member of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe, forces or intimidates a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe not to vote or to vote to a particular candidate or to vote in a manner other than that provided by law shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to five years and with fine. The Commission has asked the State Government to bring these provisions to the notice of all concerned for prompt action.

MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT

21. The Model Code of Conduct comes into effect immediately from now onwards. The Code will apply to the whole of the State of Uttar Pradesh and will be applicable to all candidates, political parties, the State Government and the Union Government.

SCHEDULE

General Election to Legislative Assembly:

22. The Commission has prepared the schedule for holding General Election to the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh after taking into consideration all relevant aspects like the school examination schedules, various festivals, prevailing law and order situation including the problems posed by the extremist elements in the State, availability of Central Para Military Forces (CPMFs), time needed for movement and proper deployment of forces, and after assessment of other ground realities.

23. The Commission after considering all relevant aspects has decided to recommend to the Governor of Uttar Pradesh to issue notification for the said General Election to the Legislative Assembly of the State under the relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, as per the schedules given in the Click here for Annexure I.

24. The names of the Assembly Constituencies going to poll in a particular phase are in Click here for Annexure II.

Bye-Elections to Lok Sabha

25. Apart from this, there are 3 vacancies in the Lok Sabha from 49 - Robertsganj (SC), 50 - Mirzapur and 60 - Bilhour Parliamentary Constituencies of the State. The Commission has decided to hold the bye-elections for filling up of these vacancies as per the same schedule as that of the general election to their constituent legislative assembly constituencies.

Source : Election Commission of India

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