File Photo: Police personnel leave for polling stations on the eve of Lok Sabha election in Srinagar.
Credit: PTI Photo
India is all set for general elections starting April 19. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that polls will happen in 7 phases, and the results are to be declared on June 4.
How can police personnel on duty cast their votes?
Officers on polling duty have two options for voting: the Election Duty Certificate (EDC) or voting by postal ballot.
These methods have been supervised for over six years.
The Election Commission (EC) provides a form for officers on polling duty to fill out. Upon completion, they receive an EDC.
An officer with an EDC can vote at any polling booth in their constituency, not necessarily the one where their name is listed.
Alternatively, officers on polling duty can opt for postal voting. They fill out a provided form, which is then collected and sorted by constituency. The segregated forms are subsequently handed over to the Returning Officer (RO) of the respective constituency.
When is polling scheduled?
543 Lok Sabha seats will undergo polls from April 19. Voting is scheduled to happen in 7 phases— April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.
Nearly 97 crore people are eligible to vote in the upcoming polls, which will see BJP-led NDA vying for a third consecutive term, while the Opposition tries to provide an alternative to the voters.
Due to the large scale of General Elections, all police officers are deployed on poll duty.