KOCHI: As a new initiative for the Kerala assembly polls, the Election Commission of India has decided to introduce colour photographs of candidates in electronic voting machines (EVMs) along with larger font sizes to help voters easily identify their preferred candidates.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar also announced that all polling stations will have 100 per cent webcasting. He added that mobile phone deposit facilities will be established at polling booths and electors in Kerala will be allowed to carry their mobile phones up to the gate of the polling station.
Justifying the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process across the country, the CEC said pure electoral rolls are the bedrock of democracy. The SIR of electoral rolls was conducted with the objective of ensuring that no eligible voter is excluded and no ineligible person is included.
With regard to hate speech and violations of the Model Code of Conduct, the Commission urged the electorate and political parties to make maximum use of the cVIGIL app, which enables citizens to report violations in real time during elections. Users can submit photo or video evidence of electoral malpractices through GPS-tagged, time-stamped and anonymous submissions, with a guaranteed resolution timeline of 100 minutes.