The Chief Election Commissioner, Sunil Arora addressed the media in a briefing on Sunday to announce the 2019 Lok Sabha election dates and guidelines. The estimated data of the voters this time would be around 900 million, a 10% increase since the last Lok Sabha elections held in 2014. According to the EC, the number of first-time voters is 1.5 crores for 2019.
The new features and guidelines that have been introduced for 2019 include some interesting points to make the polling and voting process easier.
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- The photographs of the candidates along with the name and party symbol to be displayed on all electronic voting machines (EVM) across the country.
- Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) will be used with the EVM’s at all election booths.
- Photo voter slip shall be used for guidance, though not as proof of identity at polling stations
- An Android app to for voters to record malpractice during elections and send it to the Election Commission. The Chief Election Commissioner said that a government official is duty-bound to respond within 100 minutes to the complaint.
- 1950 is the new voter helpline number to get election-related information.
- The candidates will have to furnish the details of their social media accounts at the time of the filling.