GRAM PANCHAYAT ELECTIONS: Hand Book for Presiding Officers
STATE ELECTION COMMISSION
GENERAL
As Presiding Officer you will be responsible for proper conduct of poll in one polling station. In Gram Panchayat Elections a Polling Station may be set up for one ward or there can be more than one polling station in a particular Ward. The overall responsibility for the election programme of the entire Gram Panchayat rests with the Returning Officer and you will be working under his guidance.
Besides you, there will be polling officers in your team. The number of polling officers may vary from one, two or even three, depending upon the number of voters in the polling Station allotted to you. The appointment order issued to you will also contain the names of other members of the polling party. One of the polling officers in the party will also be designated as Assistant Polling Officer. You and your Assistant Presiding Officer will be given training and the date and venue of training will be indicated in your appointment order. It will be your responsibility to give training to the other polling officers in your team, which may done one day prior to the poll.
POLLING MATERIAL
You should report to the office of the Mandal Parishad or the office specified by the District Election Authority one day before the actual date of poll, meet the Returning Officer and receive the material for the elections. (A list of material which will be supplied to you is set out in
Annexure- I). Make sure that you have received all the items. Check up and ensure, particularly the following:-
(a) that every ballot box is in perfect working condition;
(b) that the ink pad for marking the ballot papers is NOT dry;
(c) that the four working copies of the electoral roll are identical in all respects; (one copy for identification of electors, one for Presiding Officer, one for circulation among polling agents/exhibition at polling stations and one as reserve)
(d) that all deletions of names and corrections of clerical nature or other errors as per the supplement have been incorporated in the marked copy of the electoral roll;
(e) that the pages in every copy of the roll have been serially numbered in manuscript starting from No.1 onwards; and
(f) that the printed serial numbers of the voters are not corrected and no new numbers are substituted;
You will be supplied with separate sets of ballot papers of two different colours, one for election of Member, Gram Panchayat and the other for election of Sarpanch.
The ballot paper for Sarpanch, Gram Panchayat, is in pink colour. The ballot paper of ward member is white in colour. The ballot papers supplied will be equal in number to the number of voters allotted to your polling station, rounded off to the next ten. Check the ballot papers carefully and note any missing numbers; also ensure that the number on the ballot paper, and the number on its counterfoil are the same. If you find that the number on its counterfoil and the number on the ballot paper do not tally, you should cancel the ballot paper and you should not issue it to the elector. Such defective ballot papers should be kept in the cover intended for
"cancelled and spoilt ballot papers,” after endorsing on the counterfoil “CANCELLED / DEFECTIVE BALLOT PAPER”
POLLING STATIONS
1. Reaching Polling Stations:
Please familiarise yourself with the route map of the place where you are required to perform your polling duty. You will be travelling in the transport provided to you to the polling stations along with your Returning Officer and the polling personnel of other Polling Stations in your Gram Panchayat. You have to ensure that you reach the Polling Station before 5.00 PM on the day preceeding the day of poll.
2. Setting up Polling Station:
On arrival at the polling station, inspect along with the other members of your party, the building proposed for the location of the polling station and the polling station itself, if it has already been set up. It is open to you to make minor modifications but make sure that there is –
(a) sufficient space for the voters to wait outside the polling station;
(b) separate waiting space for men and women, as far as practicable;
(c) separate entrance and exit for voters;
(d) facility for easy flow of voters from the time they enter the booth till they leave it; that is, there is no scope for zig zag movement of voters; and
(e) voting compartment where voters can mark the ballot paper in secrecy. If there is only one door to the room meant for housing the polling station, separate entrance and exit can be provided with the help of bamboos and ropes in the middle of the doorway in such a way that it bifurcates the doorway. Ensure that the marking compartment is sufficiently lighted.
ON THE DAY OF POLL
1. Preparation of Ballot Paper for issue:
The ballot papers will be ordinarily in bundles of 50 each and there will be a few bundles containing 10 ballot papers each to avoid wastage. Before polling commences, announce the first and the last serial numbers of ballot papers that are supplied to you for use at your polling station to the polling agents present at the polling station. You should sign your name in full on the back of each ballot paper before it is issued to
the voter; but you need not sign on the counterfoil. As shuffling of individual ballot papers in stitched bundles is not possible, it will be enough if the first three or four bundles of ballot papers of 50 each are shuffled and the bundles used at random and not in consecutive serial order. However, you should ensure that at the close of the poll the number of ballot papers issued to the electors are in continuous and unbroken series. You should also ensure that only the exact number of ballot papers required for issue to electors is signed by you. You may sign about two bundles of 50 ballot papers each immediately before the commencement of the poll. This should be done a few minutes before the commencement of the poll. Usually, it would take only about 5 minutes to sign 100 ballot papers and so the signing of the ballot papers should begin not more than 15 minutes before the commencement of the poll. You should sign the remaining ballot papers according to the necessity as the poll progresses. At the closing stages of the poll, it would be necessary for you to sign each ballot paper as and when a voter turns up for voting. This will ensure that no signed ballot paper remains in the bundle of unused ballot papers after the poll.
Where the number of contesting candidates exceeds nine, the ballot papers would have been printed in two columns. The manner of folding of such ballot papers before issue to a voter will be as under:
The ballot paper may be folded vertically first in the middle of each of the two halves and thereafter the third fold may be done along the shaded vertical line dividing the two halves. It should then be folded horizontally in such manner that the distinguishing mark affixed on its back is clearly visible. It should thereafter be unfolded and handed over to the elector.
2. Distinguishing Mark:
Along with polling material you will be supplied with a rubber Seal containing distinguishing mark of your polling station. The distinguishing mark shall be a fraction within a circle whose numerator will indicate the serial number of the Gram Panchayat in the Mandal and the denominator will indicate the number of the polling station. This polling station number is same as Ward number, if there is only one polling station in that Ward. However, if there are more than one polling station in the Ward the Polling station number will be indicated in terms of Ward number suffixed with ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C’.
Thus, for example for a Gram Panchayat which is assigned serial No.25 within a mandal and for Ward ‘6’ having one polling station the distinguishing mark will be 25/6. In case ‘6th’ Ward is having 2 polling stations then the distinguishing marks for each of the polling stations will be 25/6A & 25/6B. In case such a stamp is not supplied, you should write this distinguishing mark in your own handwriting on the backside of the ballot paper.
3. Display of notice:
You should display prominently the following notices outside the Polling Station:-
(a) A notice specifying the polling area , that is, the particulars of electors who are entitled to vote at the polling station.
(b) A copy of the list of contesting candidates, with serial numbers and the symbols assigned to them. You should also display inside the polling station a copy of list of contesting candidates with serial numbers and the symbols assigned to them to enable the voter to exercise their franchise without difficulty.
4. Preparation of Ballot Boxes:
Begin the preparation of the ballot box ten or fifteen minutes before the hour fixed for the
commencement of the poll. You should operate the ballot box according to the instructions and
as demonstrated in the training classes.
(a) Allow the polling agents or other authorised persons present to inspect the ballot box to see that it is empty and that it does not contain anything. There will be one common Ballot Box for election of both Member, Gram Panchayat and Sarpanch.
(b) Affix inside and outside the box, labels marked with the description of polling station, the elective office for which the box is being used and the date of poll.
(c) Also, tie an address tag showing all the details indicated in (b) above to the handle of the box.
(d) Fix the paper seal, in position, in the frame so that the green background shows through the window of the ballot box. You should note that only one paper seal for each box should be used. Take the signatures of the polling agents present and affix your own signature on the reverse surface (white) of the paper seal. Verify that the paper seal cannot be shifted from its position by being softly pulled at the end. Do not use a damaged paper seal. As the paper seal will be 10” in length, you should take care to fold the two ends so that the paper seal does not hang loose inside the ballot box where it may be damaged when the ballot-papers are pushed by means of a pusher. Then, note in ink, the distinguishing mark on the green surface, of the paper seal where it shows through the window so that these marks are visible from outside. The note should be clearly legible. If your polling station has serial No.15, the distinguishing marks to be written on the paper seal of the first box should be 15-1, for the second box at the same station when the first is full, marking should be 15-2 and so on. You should note that paper seal account shall be recorded in proforma indicated in Annexure II.
(e) Close the ballot box in balloting position. Make sure that the slit is open so that the ballot papers can freely pass through it.
5. Defective ballot boxes:
Before the commencement of poll, if a ballot box is found to be defective or materially damaged, you should substitute the defective or damaged box by another one in good condition. Your Returning Officer will be having spare ballot boxes. If no spare box is available, keep the slit for insertion of ballot paper open and secure and seal the defective or damaged box by pasting a piece or pieces of paper on the box, tying up the ballot box with a string, and sealing the string or partly sealing it or sewing it up with a cloth or gunny. You should report every such case to the Returning Officer.
6. Use of additional ballot box:
If you find at any time that the ballot box in use is getting filled, even after it has been shaken up, and the ballot papers have been pressed into position through the slit by means of a pusher, you may prepare another box during the course of the poll but sufficiently in advance. When you place the second box for reception of ballot papers, the first box should be closed immediately, sealed and kept in safe custody in the polling station itself. There should be only one box in use at any point of time and a second box should be pressed into service only when the first box in use is full and closed.
7. Precautions for indelible ink:
Take adequate precautions to see that the phial containing the indelible ink does not get tilted and the ink spilled during the poll. Take some sand or loose earth in a cup or any empty can or some such broad-bottomed vessel, and push the phial down three quarters of its length into the centre of the vessel so that it is steadily embedded in the sand or earth. Also ensure that the plastic rod attached to the cork is left in standing position in the phial and not taken out except for the purpose of marking the voter’s forefinger. The rod should always be held with its marking end pointing vertically downwards. Otherwise some of the ink will drip down the rod and spoil the fingers of the person using it.
8. Attendance of Polling Agents:
(a) Admit the polling agents who report to you at least 15 minutes before commencement of the poll. Every candidate is entitled to appoint one polling agent and one relief agent. However, only one person, either the polling agent or the relief agent should be allowed into the polling booth at any point of time.
(b) Every polling agent and the relief agent reporting to you, will produce a letter of appointment in Form-XII ( Annexure – III) duly signed by the candidate or his election agent. No polling agent or the relief agent shall be admitted into the polling station unless he delivers the letter of appointment and signs the declaration thereon in your presence.
(c) Give every polling agent, who is admitted into the polling station, a permit or pass on the authority of which he can get in and out of the polling station as may be necessary.
(d) Arrange seats for the polling agents at such a place which provides them full opportunity of seeing the faces of the voters and challenging their identity, whenever necessary.
9. Duties of Presiding Officer and Polling Officers:
Detailed instructions on distribution of work amongst the Presiding Officer and Polling Officers in a polling station are given below :
(a) WHERE THE NUMBER OF VOTERS EXCEED 400: (1 + 3)
(i) Duties of first Polling Officer:
The first polling officer will be incharge of the marked copy of electoral roll and responsible for identification of voters. On entering the polling station the elector will proceed direct to the first polling officer who shall satisfy himself about the identity of the elector. Usually, each voter comes in with an unofficial identity slip wherein might have been issued to him by a candidate or his / her agents. This slip should be on plain paper and may contain the name of the elector, his serial number in the electoral roll, the number of the electoral roll section and the number and name of polling station where he has to cast his vote. The slip should not contain the name of the candidate and / or the facsimile of symbol allotted to him. If the voter does not have any such identity slip, the polling clerk will himself ascertain his name, house number, etc. and will then locate his name in the electoral roll kept by him. The elector should not be compelled to bring an identity slip, nor should he be turned away because he has not brought such a slip.
After locating the name of the elector and checking it with the particulars in the relevant entry in the roll, the first polling officer will call out loudly the section number, the page number, the serial number and the name of the elector to the hearing of the polling agents and the second and third polling officers. The identity slip, if any brought by the elector, should then be torn into pieces and put in the waste paper basket supplied. Such torn slips should not be thrown on thefloor.
(ii) Compulsory identification of voters
The State Election Commission has issued Order in reference No.409/SEC-B1/2011, dated.16.05.2011 (Annexure -IV ), for compulsory identification of electors in the elections to local bodies. The electors are required to produce any one of the following documents at the polling station to establish their identity.
I) Electoral Photo Identity Card,
II) Passports,
III) Driving Licenses,
IV) Income Tax Identity (PAN) Cards,
V) Service Identity Cards issued to its employees by State/Central Governments, Public Sector Undertakings, Local bodies or Public Limited Companies with photographs,
VI) Passbooks issued by Public Sector Banks/Post Office and Kisan Passbooks with photographs (accounts opened upto the date of election notification for the local body concerned)
VII) Property Documents such as Pattas, Registered Deeds, etc. with photographs(documents registered on or before the date of election notification for the local body concerned),
VIII) Ration Cards with photographs (issued on or before the date of election notification for the local body concerned),
IX) SC/ST/OBC Certificates issued by competent authority with photographs (issued on or before the date of election notification for the local body concerned)
X) Pension Documents such as ex-servicemen’s Pension Book/ Pension Payment Order, ex-servicemen’s widow/ Dependent Certificates, Old age pension Order, Widow Pension Order with photographs (issued on or before the date of election notification for the local body concerned)
XI) Freedom Fighter Identity Cards with photographs,
XII) Arms Licenses with photographs (issued on or before the date of election notification for the local body concerned),
XIII) Certificate of Physical Handicap by Competent Authority with photograph (issued on or before the date of election notification for the local body concerned),
XIV) ATM Cards with photographs issued by Banks (issued on or before the date of election notification for the local body concerned),
XV) Membership Cards with photographs issued by Bar Councils (issued on or before the date of election notification for the local body concerned),
XVI) Identity Cards with photographs issued by the Secretariat of Lok Sabha / Rajya Sabha to Members of Parliament,
XVII) Identity Cards with photographs issued by the Secretariat of the Legislative Assembly / Legislative Council to MLAs/MLCs,
XVIII) Job cards issued under NREGA with photographs (issued on or before the date of election notification for the local body concerned),
XIX) Health insurance Scheme Cards with photographs (Ministry of Labour’s Scheme,(issued on or before the date of election notification for the local body concerned)
XX) Pattadar passbooks containing photographs (issued on or before the date of election notification for the local body concerned).
The polling officer in charge of the identification must satisfy himself about the identity of the voter after examining any of the above documents produced by the voter. If there is no challenge as regards the identity of the voter, the polling officer will underline the entry relating to the elector in the marked copy of the electoral roll available with him in every case and where the elector is a female put a ( ) mark also on the left hand side of the name of the female elector.
NOTE: At the end of the day’s polling you have to count the number of men and women voters who have voted and record the same in the Polling Officer’s diary. One easy method of doing this would be to write down all the serial numbers from 1 to 200 or 300 on two separate sheets of paper, before the commencement of poll. Two such sheet may be used, one for recording the number of men voters and the other for women voters. The Serial number on the relevant number sheet should be struck off in consecutive order according to the sex of voters as and when they come to vote. This will also help in ascertaining instantly the total number of men and women voters who have voted upto a particular hour. The voter will then move to the second polling officer.
(iii) Duties of Second Polling officer:
The second polling officer will be in-charge of indelible ink and the bundles of ballot papers for Member and Sarpanch. He will inspect the voter’s left forefinger to see that it does not already bear any sign or trace of indelible ink and then put indelible ink above the root of the nail of the left forefinger in such a way that mark falls partly on the skin and partly on the nail and spreads on the ridge between the skin and the root of the nail and a clear mark is left on the forefinger. Note that the voter need not be touched at the time of applying the indelible ink mark on his left forefinger. In case it is noticed that an elector has applied any oily or greasy substance on his finger in order to neutralise the indelible ink mark to be put on his finger, such oily or greasy substance, should be removed with a piece of cloth by the polling officer putting indelible ink mark on the finger of that elector. The voter should not be allowed to rub off the mark for at least half a minute after it has been applied on the finger.
As the first polling officer reads aloud the section number and serial number of the elector, the second polling officer will record on the counterfoil of both the ballot papers, the electoral roll, section number and the serial number of the elector, as entered in the marked copy of the electoral roll and obtain the signature / thumb impression of the voter on the counterfoil of ballot papers. For the purpose of obtaining the thumb impression, the stamp pad of purple colour supplied to your polling station should be used and for obtaining signature, ink pen or ball pointpen should be used. The ballot papers will then be detached from the counterfoil, with the help of the flat metal rule having a sharp edge on the lengthwise side. No ballot paper should be delivered to an elector unless he has put his signature / thumb impression on the counterfoil of that ballot paper. For the use of voters, whose thumb impression has been taken on the counterfoil of the ballot papers, a wet piece of cloth may be kept on the table of the polling clerk for removing the ink from the thumb. Thereafter, both the ballot papers shall be delivered to the voter and he will be directed to the third polling officer sitting near the ballot box.
(iv) Duties of Third Polling Officer:
The third polling clerk will be in-charge of the arrow cross mark rubber stamps to be used for marking the ballot papers. He will take both the ballot papers from the elector. He will first fold the white ballot paper relating to Member, Gram Panchayat twice, first vertically and then horizontally. He will then unfold the ballot paper and hand it over to the elector. He will also give to the voter an inked rubber stamp, and if specifically requested by the voter, instruct him by making a mark with it on a piece of plain paper. The voter will then be asked to proceed to a voting compartment. After recording his vote, the elector will refold the ballot paper along the lines on which it was folded before issue to him, come out of the voting compartment and insert the ballot paper into the ballot box kept in front of the Presiding Officer. In the meantime, the third polling officer would have folded the ballot paper meant for Sarpanch also, vertically and horizontally. He will then unfold and hand over the pink ballot paper to the voter, who will again proceed to the voting compartment, and record his vote on the pink ballot paper, bring it back and insert it into the same ballot box. Before the voter leaves the polling station, the polling officer will examine the left forefinger of the elector and satisfy himself that the indelible ink mark is clearly impressed on the skin. If the voter has removed the mark or the mark is not clear, he should be marked again in such a way that the marking is clear and cannot be immediately removed.
(b) WHERE THE NUMBER OF VOTERS ARE BETWEEN 200 TO 400: (1 + 2)
There shall be one Presiding officer and two polling officers for each polling station, where the number of voters are between 200-400. One of the polling officers will also be designated as Assistant Presiding Officer.
(i) Duties of first polling Officer:
He will be responsible for identification of voters, and maintenance of marked copy of electoral rolls and incharge of indelible ink. He will read out the name and serial number of the voter in the electoral roll loudly and underline the name. In the case of woman voter, he will mark against the name a tick mark on the left hand side of the name. He will also mark the indelible ink on the left fore-finger of the voter and thereafter guide the voter to proceed to second polling officer.
(ii) Duties of second polling officer:
He will be incharge of bundles of ballot papers of Sarpanch and Ward members of Grampanchayat and incharge of arrow cross marked rubber stamps used for marking ballot papers. He will note the particulars of Electoral serial number and serial number of the voter onthe counter foils of both the ballot papers (one for Sarpanch and the other for ward member) and thereafter takes the signature/thumb impression of the voter on the counter foils. He will take both the ballot papers from the bundles and will first fold the white ballot paper relating to ward number, first vertically and then horizontally. He will then unfold the paper and hand it over to the elector. He will also give to the elector an inked rubber stamp. The voter will then be askedto proceed to the voting compartment. After recording his vote, the elector will refold the ballot paper along the lines which it was folded before issuing to him, come out from the voting compartment and insert the ballot paper into the ballot box kept infront of the polling officer. In the mean time, he would fold the ballot paper meant for Surpanch , Gram Panchayat first vertically and then horizontally. He will then unfold and hand over the pink ballot paper to the Elector who will proceed to the voting compartment, record his vote on pink ballot paper, bring it back and drop it in the same ballot box kept infront of the Presiding Officer.
(c) WHERE THE NUMBER OF VOTERS ARE LESS THAN 200: (1 + 1)
There shall be one presiding officer and one polling officer for each polling station where the number of voters are less than 200. The lone polling officer will also be designated as Asst. Presiding Officer.
(i) Duties of the Polling Officer:
As the number of voters are quite less, the polling officer will attend to the following duties:
He will be incharge of indelible ink, incharge of bundles of ballot papers and incharge of arrow cross marked rubber stamps. The presiding officer in this case is responsible for identification of electors, and
maintaining the marked copy of the electoral roll. He reads out the name and serial number of the voter in the electoral roll loudly and underline the name. Then the polling officer will mark the indelible ink on the left fore finger of the elector. He will note the particulars of Electoral serial number and serial number of the voter on the counter foils of both the ballot papers (one for Sarpanch and the other for ward member) and thereafter takes the signature/thumb impression of the voter on the counter foils. He will take both the ballot papers from the bundles and will first fold white ballot papers relating to ward number first vertically and then horizontally. He will then unfold the ballot paper and hand it over to the elector along with arrow cross marked rubber stamp. Then voter will be asked to proceed to voting compartment. After recording his vote, the elector will refold the ballot paper along the lines it was folded before issued to him, come out ofthe voting compartment and insert the ballot paper into the ballot box kept infront of thepresiding officer. In the mean time he would fold the ballot paper meant for Sarpanch, Gram Panchayat first vertically and then horizontally. He will then unfold and hand over pink ballot paper to the elector who will again proceed to the voting compartment, record his vote on the pink ballot paper, bring it back and drop it into the same ballot box kept infront of the presiding officer.
10. Persons entitled to enter the Polling Station:
Under rule 37 of Conduct of Elections Rules, 2006 the following persons only, may be
admitted into the polling station:
(a) Polling officers
(b) Other Public servants on duty in connection with the election;
(c) The candidates, their election agent, and one polling agent of each candidates at a time
(d) Persons authorised by the State Election Commissioner:
(e) A child in arms accompanying an elector;
(f) A person accompanying a blind or an infirm voter who cannot move without outside help; and
(g) Such other persons as you may, from time to time, admit for the purpose of identifying voters or otherwise assisting you in taking the poll. The Returning Officers have been asked to issue identity cards to the contesting candidates. In case need arises, you may ask him for its production. Similarly, the election agents of the candidates can be asked to produce the attested duplicate copy of their appointment letters. The attestation shall be made by the Returning Officer concerned. Police Officers, whether in uniform or in plain clothes, should not, as a general rule, be allowed to enter into a polling station unless you or the Returning Officer decide to call them in unavoidable circumstances for the maintenance of law and order or some similar purpose.
A Village servant or other officer or a woman attendant employed by you for helping you in the identification of electors, or to assist you otherwise in taking the poll, should normally be seated outside the entrance of the polling station. They should be admitted into the polling station only when they are required for identification of a particular voter, or for assisting you for a particular purpose, in connection with the taking of the poll. No one inside the polling station should be allowed to influence or try to influence the voters by words or gestures to vote in any particular way.
11. Facilities to Press representatives and photographers:
Subject to the maintenance of peace and order, there is no objection to any photographer taking photographs of the crowd or voters lining up outside the polling station. Only the State Election Commission is empowered to authorise any person, who is not an elector or who is not required to assist you in conducting the poll, to enter a polling station. Any such person, including publicity officials of the State Government, should not be allowed inside a polling station without a letter of authority from the State Election Commissioner. In no circumstances will any photograph be allowed to be taken of a voter marking his ballot paper.
12. Commencement of poll:
Commence the poll at the stroke of 7 O’clock (Polling hours are 7.00 A.M. to 1.00 P.M.). Your preliminaries should be over before 7 AM. If unavoidably, the preliminaries are not over by 7.00 AM, admit about a dozen voters at the hour fixed for the commencement of poll i.e., 7.00 AM and let the polling officers deal with them until the preliminaries are over. This sort of delay in completing the preliminaries is very undesirable and every effort shall be made to avoid it. Even if for any unforeseen reason you do not commence the poll at the appointed hour, you should not extend the appointed closing time. i.e., 1.00 P.M.
13. Warning about secrecy of voting:
Before commencement of the poll explain to the all present the provisions relating to the maintenance of secrecy of voting and remind them of their duty to maintain secrecy of voting and to desist from practices which amount to canvassing for a candidate or influencing voting.
14. Absence of polling officer:
If any polling officer appointed for your polling station is absent for any reason, you havethe power to appoint another on the spot in his place. Later you have to formally inform the District Election Authority / Deputy District Election Authority about such appointment. Do not, however, appoint any person who is an active supporter of any of the candidates or an active opponent of any candidate.
15. Entry of voters into polling booth:
There should be separate queues for men and women voters. Not more than three or four voters at a time, should be allowed to come into the polling station. Infirm voters and women voters with babies in arms may be given precedence over other voters in the queue. Admit the men and women voters in alternate batches.
16(a). Inspection of voter’s left forefinger before issue of ballot paper: If any elector refuses to allow his left fore-finger to be inspected or marked in accordance with instructions, or has already such a mark on his left fore-finger or does any act with a view to remove the ink, he shall not be supplied with any ballot paper or allowed to vote and may be sent away from the polling station.
(b). Application of indelible ink at fresh poll: At the time of fresh poll / countermanded poll, the marking with indelible ink made at the original poll should be ignored and fresh marking with indelible ink should be put at the root of the nail of the voter’s left middle finger in such a way that a portion of the ink spreads on the ridge between the skin and the root of the nail and a clear mark is left.
(c). Application of indelible ink when elector has no left forefinger: If an elector has no left forefinger, then indelible ink should be applied on any such finger which he has on his left hand. If he does not have any fingers on his left hand, the ink should be applied on his right forefinger and if he has no right forefinger, on any other finger which he has on his right hand starting with his right forefinger. If he has no fingers on either hand, ink should be applied on such extremity (stump) of his left or right hand as he possesses.
17. Precautions against ballot papers sticking together:
While issuing ballot paper to the voter, take care to see that two or more ballot papers do not stick to each other. This can be avoided by comparing the serial number of the ballot paper which has to be issued next.
18. Defective ballot papers:
Defective ballot papers cancelled by you, at the polling station may also be kept in the cover containing cancelled ballot papers. The counterfoils of such ballot papers will remain in the bundle with an endorsement “Cancelled, defective ballot paper”. It has to be accounted for in item 4 (b) of Form XXV, i.e., Ballot paper account (Annexure-V).
19. Instructions as to how the ballot paper is to be marked:
You should instruct the voter:
(a) to go inside the marking compartment;
(b) to record his vote by making a mark on or near the symbol of the candidate for whom he wishes to vote with the inked rubber stamp given to him, but no demonstration should be made by affixing the rubber stamp on any particular symbol in a specimen ballot paper or any other paper. If any assistance is required by any voter, the procedure for marking should be explained, by affixing the stamp on a piece of plain paper without any symbols;
(c) not to stamp the ballot paper more than once;
(d) to refold the ballot paper along the prefolded lines;
(e) to bring it out of the voting compartment thereafter; and
(f) to insert the folded ballot paper into the ballot box.
You should ensure that the arrow cross mark rubber stamp is adequately inked, but not over-inked before it is handed over to the voter. You should check, from time to time, that the pad is not dry and the rubber of the arrow cross-mark rubber stamp is intact and in position. You should also ensure that self-inking pad is not kept inside the marking compartment at any stage. You should also see, particularly in the case of illiterate voters, that they have understood how the stamp is to be used for marking. You may ask such a voter to make a mark with the stamp on a sheet of plain paper, if necessary.
20. Precautions to be taken at the voting compartment:
See that a voter does not stay in the voting compartment unduly long. No other voter should be allowed to go into a compartment when one voter is inside. When the voter comes out, the polling officer will take the rubber stamp from him and ask him to insert the ballot paper into the ballot box.
21. Precautions to ensure correct voting:
If you notice that the voter has erroneously marked the ballot paper on the back, or suspect that the voter has not marked the ballot paper, you may ask the voter whether he has marked the ballot paper and if so, on the correct side and, if not, instruct him to go back into the voting compartment and to put the mark. If the voter comes to you with the ballot paper unfolded or folded in the wrong way, you should rectify the defect, maintaining the secrecy of the vote, as far as practicable. Ensure also that the voter puts into the box only the ballot paper given to him by checking the distinguishing mark on the back, whenever necessary.
22. Voting by blind or infirm voters:
If you are satisfied, that owing to blindness or other physical infirmity a voter is unable to recognise the symbols on the ballot paper, or to make a mark thereon without assistance, you should permit the elector to take with him a companion of not less than 18 years of age to the voting compartment to record the vote on the ballot paper, on his behalf, in accordance with his wishes and insert it into the ballot box.
No person shall be permitted to act as a companion of more than one elector at any polling station on the same day. The companion of the elector is received to give a declaration in From XXII (Annexure - VI) that he will keep secret the vote recorded by him on behalf of the elector and that he has not already acted as the companion of any other elector at any polling station on that day. The presiding officer shall keep a record of all such cases in From XXIII (Annexure - VII).
23. List of dead, absent and bogus voters:
It is expected that polling agents may bring with them a copy of the list of the names of dead, absent and bogus voters. The candidate or his party may supply similar list to you. If any person whose name is mentioned in that list, claims to be a voter, you shall check that person’s identity carefully. This will not amount to a formal challenge.
24. Challenging a voter’s identity:
Every person whose name is entered in the electoral roll is entitled to vote at the election. Unless, there is a challenge by a candidate or his election or polling agent, or unless you are fully satisfied that he is a bogus voter, it should normally be presumed that the person claiming to be a voter and giving out his name and other details correctly, is a genuine voter. If there is a challenge or if you have reasonable doubt about the identity of the person keeping in view all circumstances, you should hold a summary enquiry and decide the issue.
25. Challenge fee:
You should not entertain any challenge of a voter’s identity by a candidate or his agent until the challenger pays a fee of five rupees in cash. After the amount has been paid, furnish a receipt thereof to the challenger in the Form prescribed in Annexure - VIII, warn the person challenged about the penalty for impersonation, read the relevant entry in the electoral roll in full and ask him whether he is the person referred to in that entry, enter his name and address in the list of challenged voters prescribed in Form-XXI (Annexure-IX ) and ask him to sign or affix his thumb-impression thereon. If he refuses to do so, do not allow him to vote.
Where a poll is taken simultaneously to more than one office, a challenge as to the identity of an elector made by a polling agent at one such election shall be deemed to be a challenge also in respect of the other election, and any decision you give under the relevant rule in respect of that challenge shall apply equally to both the elections.
26. Summary enquiry:
After payment of challenge fee, you are required to hold a summary enquiry into the issue. First ask the challenger to produce evidence to show that the person challenged is not the voter that he claims to be. If the challenger fails to adduce prima-facie evidence in support of his challenge, disallow the challenge and allow the person challenged to vote. If the challenger succeeds in making out a prima-facie case that the person is not the voter in question, you should call upon the challanged voter to produce evidence to rebut the challenge, that is, to prove that he is the voter he claims to be. If he proves his claim by such evidence, allow him to vote. If he fails to do so, hold that the challenge has been established. In the course of the enquiry, you are free to ascertain the true facts from the village assistants or servants or hour, neighbours of the voter in question or any other person present. While taking evidence you may administer an oath to the voter challenged or any other person offering to give evidence. In case, the challenge has been established, you should hand over the person to the police officer on duty, together with your complaint in the Form prescribed ( Annexure-X ), addressed to the Station House Officer of Police Station in the jurisdiction of which your polling station falls
.
27. Return or forfeiture of challenge fee:
Immediately after the enquiry is over, return the challenge fee of five rupees to the person who made the challenge after taking his signature on the receipt (Annexure-VIII ) and on the list of Challenged votes in Form-XXI, except where you are of the opinion that the challenge was frivolous or was not made in good faith. In the latter case forfeit the challenge fee to the Government and do not return it to the challenger, and enter the word “forfeited” in the list of challenged votes and on the relevant counterfoil in the receipt book.
28. Clerical and printing errors in the roll to be overlooked:
The particulars in respect of a voter as entered in the electoral roll are sometimes incorrectly printed or have become out of date, particularly with regard to the age of the voter. You should overlook mere clerical or printing errors in any entry relating to a voter in the roll, provided that you are otherwise satisfied about the identity of the person claiming to be the voter according to other particulars entered in the electoral roll.