EC Limits Polling Booths to 1,200 Voters

New Delhi:In a bid to encourage voters and reduce their inconvenience, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar has tasked the Election Commission (EC) and its subordinate offices to ensure that in the future elections, no polling station has more than 1,200 electors, so that the voting can be completed well within time and without long queues.

Bihar, where Assembly polls are due in October-November, will be the first state that will see 1,200 voters in one polling station.

At present, 1,500 electors are allowed to vote in one polling station. Sources in the EC said rationalisation of polling booths has been a pending issue for more than a decade. As per rules, polling booths have to be within 2 km of the residence area of the voters. Lowering the number of voters by increasing polling booths will help complete polling in time and get accurate voter turnout data well within time. Presently, the voter turnout data gets much delayed due to long queues during the closing hours, leading to complaints from the political parties.

This initiative is part of the proactive steps being taken by the new CEC to resolve several legacy issues pending for decades with the EC in less than a month of his taking over.

The CEC has ordered resolving all pending issues before the Commission in the next three months and improving communications with the political parties to take their suggestions by the end of April.

The issue of duplicate numbers on Election Photo Identity Cards (EPIC), pending for nearly 25 years, too has to be resolved in the next three months. “The EC has an unflinching commitment to the voters. All genuine Indian citizens above 18 years should be able to vote. Linking EPIC with Aadhar is one step in this direction,” sources said.

The CEC is scheduled to hold a meeting with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which handles Aadhar, and the secretary legislative department of the ministry of law and justice on Tuesday.

Sources added that after a long gap, all party meetings at the level of EROs, DEOs and CEOs in states and Union territories will be conducted, and this has to be done before March 31, 2025. “Also, for the first time in decades, soliciting suggestions from all national and state parties within the legal framework will be done,” sources said. This has to be done by April 30, 2025.

Additionally, proper training of field-level political agents, including booth-level agents, polling agents, counting agents and election agents, will be done as per the legal framework for the first time to help them understand processes better and avoid miscommunication, misinformation and conflict with the EC system.

According to the poll body officials, a large section of the politicians, polling and booth agents are not even aware of the existing laws and remedies available to them under The Representation of the People Act 1951. The Election Commission officials said the CEC is keen that everyone is briefed about the laws properly so that they find the right forum for their grievances and get them resolved faster instead of merely posting on social media platforms and waiting for the poll body to act suo moto.