The Election Commission on Thursday said that there were 'multiple factors' leading to the delay in the announcement of the Gujarat assembly polls, adding that the recent Morbi bridge collapse tragedy was one of them.
The trader not only predicted a Trump win but also wagered on Trump's success in both the popular vote and several key swing states.
'These machines are standalone devices with no external connectivity, making hacking impossible. The chip in EVMs is one-time programmable, ensuring no changes can be made. Strict security and administrative protocols further prevent any tampering'
According to the EC, no mismatch has been reported since the practice of cross-checking votes was introduced.
The Lt Governor conveyed to the Delhi government that the rules will have to be amended for shunning the EVMs and it was not possible to make the changes as little over a month is left for the polls.
7,06,252 people or 1.7 per cent of the voters opted for the option whereby they preferred not to vote for any candidate while exercising their democratic right.
'Money power was deployed like an army in a war.' 'None of the MVA parties had that kind of money.'
A maximum of 92,000 personnel of CAPFs are likely to be deployed in politically volatile West Bengal, where elections will be held in seven phases, followed by 63,500 personnel in militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir, where polling will be held in five phases.
For the first time, the Election Commission will provide 'None Of The Above' option button in EVMs for the 11 crore voters who will exercise their franchise in the five states going to polls beginning next month.
Underscoring the importance of voter satisfaction and trust in the electoral system, the Supreme Court on Thursday told petitioners who sought its direction to go back to using ballot papers not to suspect the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and appreciate if the Election Commission does good work.
Holding simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and all assemblies would need any no-confidence motion to be coupled with a 'confidence motion' by a leader proposed as next prime minister or chief minister, while any mid-term election can be conducted only for remainder of the term, the Election Commission had said earlier.
Jammu and Kashmir has been without an assembly since November 2018 when the then legislative assembly was dissolved by then Governor Satya Pal Malik after the People's Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government fell apart earlier that year.
4 EVMs and a similar number of VVPATs were found at the house of a TMC leader in West Bengal's Howrah district, following which a poll official was suspended.
The Supreme Court of India has sought a response from the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding pleas seeking verification of burnt memory and symbol loading units in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The court directed the ECI to refrain from erasing or reloading data during the verification process and to explain the procedure adopted for verification. The bench also expressed concerns over the high cost of verification and directed the ECI to reduce the fee. The court's directive comes following its previous judgement where it allowed aggrieved candidates to seek verification of EVMs.
Angry members of the Congress and other opposition parties forced adjournments of the proceedings as they questioned the NOTA provision for these elections.
The Election Commission sought a detailed report from the district poll authorities in Bhind, where a bypoll is due on April 9.
The EC has time and again rubbished allegations that EVMs can be programmed to favour any particular party.
The parties failed to make an impact with their voteshares getting restricted to 2 per cent or below.
Bypolls in three assembly constituencies in as many states passed off peacefully on Monday with around over 70 per cent voter turnout, though some technical glitches in electronic voting machine were reported in Tamil Nadu and the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal alleged that the Central Reserve Police Force was "influencing" voters.
This is for the first time in a Lok Sabha election that results of voting machines will be matched with slips generated by paper trail machines.
The Supreme Court said on Wednesday it cannot 'control the elections' or issue directions simply because doubts have been raised about the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), as it reserved its judgment on a clutch of petitions claiming the polling devices can be tinkered with to manipulate the results.
Strong rooms spread across the city storing the electronic voting machines (EVMs) are being heavily guarded, with a 'three-layer security ring'. Tight security arrangements have also been put in place at various centres across the national capital.
The Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party are going all-out to ensure that polling in Varanasi on Monday is conducted in a free and fair manner.
Union Minister of State BL Verma expressed concern over the situation in Bangladesh and said the government is closely monitoring it. Addressing a Rozgar Mela in Jammu, he lauded the BSF for its role in safeguarding India's borders with Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Pakistan. He also responded to questions on the Samajwadi Party's controversial statement labelling the BJP government as a "Hindu terrorist organisation", the Congress's allegations of EVM fraud, and Rahul Gandhi's call for a caste census.
Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath for the Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir assembly poll results on Tuesday.
Two days after being sworn in as Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath as an MLA along with deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi boycotted the ceremony alleging EVM misuse.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said in Korba in Chhattisgarh on Friday that chief ministers of Congress ruled states refrain from going among the people fearing that people may throw stones at them.
The counting of votes for the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls along with six assembly and one Lok Sabha by-elections will commence at 8 am on Thursday with prohibitory orders in place around counting halls to ensure peace and tranquillity.
The challenge would be held in the first week of May and could continue for ten days.
The Election Commission told the AAP chief that tampering was not possible.
While the Aam Aadmi Party is contesting on four seats, the Congress has fielded candidates for the remaining three seats.
There are 64 vacancies in the legislative assemblies of various states and one in Lok Sabha.
He also said the Bihar chief electoral officer has already responded to everything. The EC held four press conferences on counting day on November 10 to respond to various aspects of the process, Arora pointed out.
Hopes of NRIs to cast votes in the ongoing general elections through Internet were dashed on Friday with the Supreme Court saying that any interim relief at this stage may open a pandora's box.
The plea was filed by several opposition leaders seeking counting of voter verifiable paper audit trail slips of 50 per cent of electronic voting machines in each constituency before the Lok Sabha results are declared.
The former Congress president alleged that PM Modi had a "monopoly over corruption".
If left unchecked, the 2024 elections may be infamously remembered as the election of deepfakes. The ECI has a tough task ahead, but, more importantly, it has an opportunity to become a global model for scores of countries going to polls this year, notes Ajay Kumar.
The model code of conduct comes into immediate effect, he said.
To counter the doubts over the machine's reliability, the Election Commission has come out with a list of FAQs to put across its views in public domain.
As many as 833 candidates are in the fray across 93 constituencies which will go to polls on December 5. Votes will be counted on December 8.
