New Rules Announced for Voting, Campaigning in Corona Era - ECI

Election Commission has issued rules and regulations for all general elections and by-elections to be held in the Corona era. It has been clarified that all election related work will have to be adopted to prevent the corona. It will be mandatory for every person to wear a mask

during every election related activity. There will be thermal scanning of all the people coming to the premises to be used for the election. Sanitizers and soaps will be provided and social distancing rules have to be followed.

Voting facilities will be provided through postal ballots to the differently-abled, the elderly over 80 years, the employees engaged in essential services and the corona-infected people.

This way the booths will be sanitized a day before the election . Thermal scanners will be provided at the entrance of all polling stations. Thermal scanning of all voters will be done through polling staff or para medical staff or ASHA workers. If the temperature of the body of a voter exceeds the criteria set by the Ministry of Health, then its temperature will be measured again. If this time is too high, such voters will be given a token and asked to come in the last hour of voting. Such a voter will be finally voted on with more precautions related to COVID-19.

All voters will be given tokens on first come-first-served basis, so that people do not have to wait in the queue. Marks will be made on the ground to follow social distancing. There will be a distance of 6 feet between two voters. Waiting areas will be created for female and male voters. Soap and water will be provided at the entry exit point of all polling stations. Sanitizers will be provided at all entry and exit points.

Less voter at the booth

In Corona period, there has been a system of keeping the number of voters at the booths, that is, the number of booths will be increased. A booth will have a maximum of 1000 voters. Earlier this limit was 1500 voters.

Election campaign will be like this

Many rules have also been made for campaigning in the Corona era. Candidates can preach from house to house with a maximum of five persons (excluding security personnel). During the roadshow, the convoy of vehicles will be divided into 5-5 vehicles. The rallies can be approved on the basis of Covid-19 guidelines. For this, many instructions have been given to district election officers. District Election Officers will decide the venue for public meetings, which will have entry and exit points. Social distancing will have to be followed at public places. The Nodal District Health Officer will be involved in the process to follow the Covid-19 guidelines. The District Election Officer and SP will ensure that no more people gather than the approval from the State Disaster Management Authority.