The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India along with the two other deputies will visit the State once the poll process in Gujarat is over to take stock of the preparedness for the upcoming Meghalaya Assembly polls.
The deputy Election Commissioner, Chandra Bhushan Kumar who is in Shillong, told media persons here on Thursday that the ECI team comprising of CEC and the two Election Commissioners would definitely visit the poll-bound Meghalaya, but only after the electoral process in Gujarat was over.
Expressing happiness over the state’s preparations for the polls, Kumar said that preparatory arrangements were on track while identification of polling teams was going on at the moment.
He also mentioned that the Election Commission of India will decide on the date of elections after taking security mobilization, festivals and educational issues of the State into consideration.
The ECI team during their visit to Shillong also held discussions with political parties besides the Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of all the districts earlier on Wednesday.
During the meeting, political parties raised issues pertaining to Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) saying people should see as to what print comes out from the VVPAT after voters cast their votes. T
Meanwhile, the State Election Commission has taken measures to disseminate information about the VVPATs which are being used for the first time in Meghalaya.
The ECI official also exuded confidence that there was nothing left to doubt about efficacy of EVMs after VVPAT was incorporated into the entire electoral process.
Responding to queries about the time taken by VVPAT to print slips which usually takes seven seconds, Kumar said time and number of voters would not be a problem as Election Commission has already set guidelines that a polling station in urban area should not have more than 1400 voters whereas the number of voters is restricted to 1200 in polling stations of rural areas.
He also informed that the number of polling station in the State has increased to 3082 with an increase of 597 polling stations since the last 2013 Assembly elections.
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