Mock voting in Mandya 15 days prior to elections, says DC

A mock voting session would be conducted 15 days prior to the voting for the Assembly elections scheduled for May 12. The initiative has been taken up as VVPAT machines are being used in the voting for the first time in Mandya district.

Speaking after a demo at her office on Monday, Deputy Commissioner N Manjushri who is also the District Election Officer, said, awareness will be created among the voters on using Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and a demonstration will be conducted at every booth-level.

"Each voter can verify whether the votes they cast has been registered correctly through the machine. As soon as the voter casts vote on the EVM, the VVPAT machine displays the candidate's serial number and symbol for seven seconds. The VVPAT acknowledgement gets collected in the machine. The election officials can check the acknowledgements in case of any confusion after voting," the DC said.

Photos of candidates

For the first time, photographs of the candidates will be used on the EVMs. Along with the serial numbers and symbol, the photograph will be displayed. This will help the voters to chose their favourite candidate and there will be no confusion. The officials are being trained at the district and state level and all measures are being taken to avert any technical problem, Manjushri said.

"Two main technical problems identified with the VVPAT are low battery level and printing problem. The engineers will take care of it. A mock voting will be conducted at all the booths at 6 am on May 12 also. After confirming that there is no problem, voting will begin at 7 am," she said.

Wheelchairs will be provided at all booths to enable physically-challenged persons exercise their franchise. No one will be allowed to help aged persons while voting. The volunteers at the booth will only help them to reach the EVM. The elders have to cast their vote themselves, the DC clarified.

Bulk transportation of liquor is banned till the poll code of conduct is in place. A person, however, is allowed to carry around three litres of liquor manufactured in the country and 9.1 litres of foreign liquor. Eighteen litres of beer can be transported, she said.