Telangana: ECI implements advanced technology for election monitoring

Hyderabad: The Election Commission of India, while striving for impartiality in elections, faces numerous challenges such as violence, caste or religion-based issues, booth capturing, disinformation, cyber threats, low voter turnout, hate speeches, character assassinations, and inducements.

In response to these challenges, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Telangana, has established an Integrated Command and Control Room equipped with modern technology to monitor ground-level issues in real time and make informed decisions, a statement here said on Friday.

Operational 24/7 until the completion of all election processes, this collaborative workspace enables the CEO to review the situation in all 119 Assembly constituencies in the state. Decisions are made based on real-time information provided by ground-level teams and, when necessary, in consultation with the Election Commission of India (ECI) in New Delhi.

The monitoring process covers various aspects, including seizures, Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violations, 1950 call center complaints, campaigning issues under the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC), c-Vigil, Flying Squad Teams (FST), Static Surveillance Teams (SST), Excise Department, Police Department, social media, and the Suvidha App. It also supervises 18 distilleries and six breweries in the state.

The Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC) is tasked with monitoring seizures, MCC violations, and political advertisements by all parties. Over 2,200 MCC violations, seizures, and political advertisements on TV channels have been examined so far.

The 1950 helpline, offering guidance to voters on enrollment, voter verification procedures, and EPIC cards, has received 1886 calls, with 694 complaints registered since October 9th. The helpline has now operated with three lines since November 3rd.

The c-Vigil App, designed to report MCC/expenditure violations through mobile phones, has received 4643 complaints, with 2858 of them found correct and disposed of or escalated, and 1767 dropped.

The Suvidha online portal for filing nominations and affidavits has received 26,554 requests for permissions, with 19,114 accepted, 3,626 rejected, 487 in progress, and 2230 pending.

The implementation of CCTVs at check posts Surveillance Teams (SSTs) involves 882 cameras installed at 437 check posts, with 33 control rooms operating in all districts.

The Social Media Monitoring Cell addresses fake news/misinformation against Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the polling process, ECI, and CEO Telangana. So far, 25 negative posts have been identified.

The total number of nominations filed is 3504, with 606 rejected. After scrutiny, 2898 nominations were accepted. Withdrawals amounted to 608, leaving 2290 valid nominations.

The election setup includes 299 auxiliary polling stations and a total of 35,655 polling stations, with a maximum limit of 1550 in Hyderabad and 1500 in the rest of the city.