EC voter slips 5 days before polls - Law and order a statesubject, panel tells govt

TT, Calcutta, March 26: The Election Commission today instructed all district magistrates to ensure that voter slips with photographs reach people at least five days before the day of polling and a logbook maintained with the receiver's signature.

"Booth-level officers (BLOs) will have to visit every household and hand over the photo voter slips to the voters. The signature of each voter will have to be taken on a logbook. The authorities in the districts will have to maintain a database of the number of people among whom the slips have been distributed," a senior official in the Bengal chief electoral officer's office said.

The slips issued by the commission will have the voter's picture, name, age, address, Epic card number, booth number and part number.

Before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, political parties used to distribute voter slips. There have been allegations that often parties either did not distribute slips among those believed to be rival supporters so that they did not get to know about their booth and part numbers or threatened them against casting their ballots.

The slips issued by parties do not have the voter's picture, but bears the political outfit's symbol.

The commission had introduced the practice of issuing photo voter slips and distributing them through BLOs before the 2014 elections. There was, however, no deadline for distributing the slips. Since the 2014 decision, slips issued by political parties are no longer accepted during Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Deputy election commissioner Sandeep Saxena today held a video conference with all DMs and told them the slips must reach the voters at least five days before the polling day and that a logbook would have to be maintained. After every distribution day, reports would have to be sent to the commission detailing how many slips had been given out and how many could not be handed over and why.#"A help centre (Sahayata Kendra) will have to be opened in every block. Voters who would not get the slips can collect them from these centres by furnishing identity details," the official in the chief electoral officer's office said.

Officials involved in the distribution process would be held accountable if all voters do not receive the slips, a commission source said.

At today's meeting, the commission told the DMs the database used for printing voter slips would have to be removed from the press immediately after the process is completed to avoid duplication.

According to the commission, agents of political parties can accompany the BLOs during the distribution process but they, too, would have to sign on the logbook.

Commission letter

The office of the Bengal chief electoral officer today wrote to home secretary Moloy De mentioning that law and order was a state subject and complaints about its deterioration either before or during polls "should be adequately addressed".

Yesterday, Trinamul leader Mukul Roy had complained to chief electoral officer Sunil Kumar Gupta about the "murders" of six Trinamul activists since the Assembly elections were announced and said if there was one more death, the body would be brought to the Election Commission's office.

At a rally in Lalgarh yesterday, Mamata Banerjee had said eight Trinamul activists had been killed.

"The letter was sent to remind the state administration that law and order is a state subject and all complaints about campaign-related violence should be adequately addressed by it," said Dibyendu Sarkar, the additional chief electoral officer.

Sources said although the administration comes under the control of the commission after elections are declared and the poll panel can haul up or remove officers for inept handling of law and order, policing remains the government's responsibility.