Election Commission announces 17 new reforms for Bihar polls, to be implemented nationwide later

The much-awaited Bihar state assembly election dates have been announced. The state will undergo an election in two phases - on November 6 and 11, with results set to be declared on November 14. The Election Commission has also announced a plethora of new initiatives which will be implemented during the polls. The news implementation, according to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, will serve as the model for all the upcoming elections across the country. These new initiatives, a total of 17, have been introduced to further streamline the elections process as well as bring transparency to the whole exercise.

What are the 17 new initiatives announced for Bihar assembly polls?

Among the 17 news initiatives, the most important ones are webcasting of the entire polling process to ensure the transparency in the whole exercise. The reforms also include wider use of the ECINet app for the all the data regarding the elections in the state.

Below is the list of some of the 17 initiatives to be implemented during the Bihar assembly polls:

• Polling stations to be limited to 1,200 voters to ensure better crowd management.
• Complete webcasting of all polling stations to enhance transparency.
• Digital index cards and reports for all poll-related data at the constituency level.
• VVPAT slip counting to avoid a counting mismatch between Form 17C and the EVM.
• ECINet app to be used as a one-stop platform to increase the tech-savviness of the process.
• Coloured photo of the candidates on EVMs for better identification.
• Mobile phones of the voters are to be deposited 100m before the polling station.
• ID cards for all booth officials to avoid any fraudulent activities.
• Training to personnel involved, including booth level agents, police and booth level officers.
• Candidate booths allowed 100 m from the polling station to get more involvement from them in the process.