The entire process was done under videography , the satisfaction of the political parties was expressed.
May 2 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Komal Mittal, the first randomization of EVMs and VVPATs was done in the presence of representatives of all political parties related to the Lok Sabha elections 2024. The District Election Officer said that EVMs were used on the instructions of the Election Commission in the presence of representatives of political parties. And the process of randomization of VVPAT machines has been completed with the software developed by the Chief Election Commission. He said that the distribution of machines was done in a completely transparent manner through the EVM management system of the Election Commission. Representatives of political parties expressed satisfaction during the entire process which took place under videography. Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-Additional District Election Officer Rahul Chaba, DDF Zoya Siddiqui were also present on the occasion.
District Election Officer said that There are 1563 polling booths in the district and hence the voting machines have been allotted to the Assistant Returning Officers of all the seven assembly constituencies through randomization. He said that in the randomization of voting machines, group assistant returning officers of the district have been given 20 percent ballot units, 20 percent control units and 30 percent VVPAT reserve, apart from counting the polling stations falling in their assembly segments. He informed that 301 BU, 301 CU and 326 VVPAT machines were allotted for 251 polling booths in Mukerian assembly constituency. 268 BU, 268 CU and 291 VVPAT machines for 224 polling booths of Dasuha, 265 BU, 265 CU and 287 VVPAT machines for 221 polling booths of Udmur, 264 BU, 264 CU and 286 VVPAT machines for 220 polling booths of Sham Chaurasi, 256 BU, 256 CU and 278 VVPAT machines for 214 polling booths of Hoshiarpur. , 246 BU, 246 CU and 266 VVPAT machines were allotted for 205 polling booths of Chabbewal.
The District Election Officer said that after getting the machines segregated, the voting machines will be given to the Group Assistant Returning Officers from 8.30 am to 7 pm on May 3 and May 4, 2024. He told the representatives of political parties that the warehouse has to be opened and closed to deliver the voting machines on the given dates, hence their representatives must reach on time. During this, he provided one set each to the representatives of political parties to fill the nominations so that they could provide the sets to their potential candidates.
Komal Mittal also introduced the representatives of political parties to the schedule related to Lok Sabha elections on behalf of the Election Commission of India. He said that as per the schedule, the notification for voting will be issued on May 7, 2024 and the nomination process will start from this day. The last date for filing nomination papers will be 14 May 2024 . Nominations will be taken on all working days on the above dates only. The nominations will be scrutinized on 15th May 2024 and the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers is 17th May 2024. He informed that voting will be held on June 1, 2024 and counting of votes will take place on June 4, 2024. On this occasion D.I.O. Pradeep Singh , Nodal Officer EVM Dr. Jaswinder Singh, Nodal Officer VVPAT Dr. Balwinder Singh, Election Tehsildar Sarbjit Singh, DIA Vijendra Singh, Assistant Director Horticulture Jaspal Singh, Lawmakers Deepak Kumar, Lakhbir Singh, Megha Mehta, Pradeep Kumar, Raghu Tandon from Indian National Congress, Keshav Tandon, Parminder Singh from Shiromani Akali Dal, Madan Singh Bains from Bahujan Samaj Party, Bhushan Kumar Sharma from BJP were also present.