"For the Lok Sabha elections, we are making meticulous planning on all fronts including electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT)," he said.
The Election Commission on Wednesday ruled out any change in the schedule of the West Bengal assembly polls and told the Trinamool Congress that its suggestion to club the last three of the eight phases is "not feasible".
What's in a name? A lot if an election is at stake and you have three other people with the same name standing up against you. And that's the case for Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who filed his nomination from Varanasi on Thursday. Modi is facing 77 rivals, including three other Narendras.
Voting in the first phase began with reports of multiple faulty electronic voting machines at various booths, prompting Congress leaders to request quick action from the poll body.
Leaders of 23 political parties met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, seeking redressal of the issue of alleged tampering of electronic voting machines before Lok Sabha polls.
'India's election process is smoother, more efficient, more credible, cheaper to conduct and quicker to deliver than any other large democracy, including the United States. It seems to me that the election process is getting better with each passing year and it is something all Indians can be very proud of,' says Aakar Patel.
He also lamented that EVMs are being used as a 'football' and some sections are doing a 'motivated slugfest' over their use.
The EC currently follows a system of random counting of VVPAT slips in one polling booth per assembly segment of a Parliamentary or assembly constituency.
Arvind Kejriwal said that 20-25% of AAP's votes transferred to SAD-BJP.
Opposition members trooped into the Well of the House calling the government a "cheat".
Shuja had on Monday claimed at an event in London that the EVMs can be tampered with and that the 2014 Lok Sabha elections were rigged.
Braving scorching sun, voters queued up since early morning in the wards falling under three corporations - South Delhi Municipal Corporation (7), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (4) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (2).
'We cannot override the CJI's order... This is nonsense'
G V L Rao, part of Save India Democracy which exposed the frauds being committed through EVMs, told rediff.com that the bigger issue was that the government dragged its feet on sanctioning funds for the introduction of VVPAT despite the Supreme Court passing its order a year ago.
Banerjee, who was speaking to reporters at West Bengal's state secretariat, said that her party's name will remain the All India Trinamool Congress.
Counting of votes will be held on Sunday in assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana in what is seen as a semi-final contest ahead of the general elections in less than six months.
Voting is being held in 59 of the total 60 seats .
An Election Commission official said minor clashes between political workers were reported from some areas.
In a statement, the EC said the presiding officer and three other officials have been placed under suspension.
Cricket has taken many steps forward towards excellence and fairness. Electoral politics has a lot of catching up to do, points out Rajeev Bhargava in his fascinating new book Between Hope and Despair.
Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Tuesday demanded a probe into the charges made by the self-proclaimed US-based cyber expert, terming them as "very serious" as they concern the survival of democracy in India.
Seventy-one parliamentary constituencies spread across nine states voted in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections.
The EC received complaints from five places that EVMs were connecting to external devices via bluetooth, but after inquiry, it was found that there was 'no substance' in the complaints.
The highest polling of 72.35 per cent was recorded in Sirmour district followed by 68.48 per cent in Solan and 67.67 per cent in Una and 67.5 per cent in Lahaul and Spiti. The high-altitude district of Lahaul and Spiti had recorded 21.95 per cent, the lowest, till 1 pm, but polling was brisk as the sun came out.
Allegations of electronic voting machines malfunctioningreturned to haunt the Election Commission as four Lok Sabha seats and nine assembly constituencies went for bypolls on Monday across 10 states with moderate-to-heavy voting amid prestige at stake for the Bharatiya Janata Party as well as opposition parties ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Akhilesh said people feel that they have been misled (by the BJP) for forming the government.
Accepting his mistakes, Kejriwal asserted that it's time to get back to work.
Leaders of 22 political parties had on Tuesday urged the poll panel to ensure paper slips from the VVPAT module are matched before the counting begins so that in cases of discrepancy, all votes in that particular assembly segment can be cross-checked with the paper slips.
While the term of 288-member Maharashtra assembly ends on November 9, that of the 90-member Haryana assembly expires on November 2.
It is natural for many of you to ask -- do things like Right to Reject and Compulsory voting violate our Right to Expression? No, I would say it is adding completeness in the opportunity for expression
The CEC said when people lose elections, they blame their defeat on EVMs, but when they win they don't do so.
EC officials said the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections will begin at 8 am on Thursday and results are expected only by late evening.
The party's gamble to go in for early elections paid rich dividends.
The EC again rubbished the Aam Aadmi Party's claim that EVMs could be tampered with
Attacking the Election Commission, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said that people have started doubting the credibility of the EVMs in a "big way".
It would be far more sensible for AAP to build on what they have achieved than to destroy what credibility they have by floating wild conspiracy theories, says Sankrant Sanu.
The election is likely to witness a three-cornered contest involving the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
The term of the 243-member Bihar legislative assembly comes to an end on November 29.
A total of 851 candidates are in the fray for 93 seats spread across 14 districts in north and central Gujarat, in the final phase of the polls, where 2.22 crore people are eligible to exercise their franchise.
The high court dismissed the party's plea, saying since the electronic voting machines would now carry photographs of the candidates.
