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Thursday, Mar 12, 2009
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EC decision on polling date by March 16

Special Correspondent

Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N. Gopalaswami on Wednesday said that the Election Commission (EC) would examine the demand for a change in the polling date in Kerala and announce its decision by March 16.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Gopalaswami said the decision would be announced once he got back to Delhi after the Hyderabad leg of his tour. Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be held in Kerala on April 16 and a few political parties had sought a change in the date owing to Easter and Vishu. The CEC, who conducted a review of the poll arrangements in Kerala, said he had issued directions to District Collectors, who were also District Electoral Officers (DEOs), to carry out inquiries into complaints of deletion of names from the electoral rolls. He asked them to check all back-up papers of complainants within two days. In case no back-up paper is available, the DEOs have been asked to carry out an inquiry to verify the details and restore the names that have been wrongly deleted after following the correct procedures.

Mr. Gopalaswami said he had reviewed the mechanism to check violation of the Model Code of Conduct. It had been decided to appoint four-member teams of observers comprising civil and police officials, one each in the Assembly segments and one at the district level. Micro-observers, mostly made up of Central government officials, would be appointed in polling booths identified as sensitive and hyper-sensitive. At least 20 per cent of the polling booths would be covered in this manner.

The Chief Secretary would be asked to look into allegations of large-scale appointments and attempts at influencing voters through promises under the EMS housing scheme. The commission would also examine the issue of deploying additional forces in certain parts of northern Kerala, Mr. Gopalaswami said.

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