Press Release From District Election Officer-cum-Returning Officer, North, Shri Raj Yadav

Mangan, 13 Apr (IPR): District Election Officer-cum-Returning officer, North District, Shri Raj Yadav, IAS has informed about the security arrangements made for Strong room as per the ECI directions in a press release today.

He informed that as per ECI directions category A & B EVMs (Polled EVMs and Defective polled EVMs) have been stored at New Strong room, District Administrative Centre, Mangan, likewise Category C & D EVMs (Unused defective and reserved) have been shifted to old strong room, Zilla Bhawan, Mangan to avoid any confusion in presence of all political parties on 11th April itself after receiving from polling parties.

Further, all other Election related material has been sealed in old strong room after scrutiny on 12th April in the presence of representatives of all political parties.

He informed that both Strong rooms have CCTV cameras and CAPF to guard as per ECI instructions. At New Strong room, DAC Mangan Four rooms have been identified for Political parties to stay and to keep watch, if they want with display of all CCTVs coverage with proper power back up. Proper lighting and barricading have been ensured at New Strong room.

Security arrangements have been checked by General observers and all political parties and all found satisfactory as per norms.

Press Release from the Office of the District Election Officer, East, Shri Kapil Meena

Gangtok, 12 Apr (IPR): District Election Officer and Returning Officer of East District, Mr Kapil Meena, has informed all the General Public that during the entire polling process, all rules and guideline of Election Commission have been followed scrupulously to ensure full transparency as well as free and fair elections.

He has stated that there cannot be any ground for any doubts on the full proof authentication procedures as prescribed by Election Commission of India. It came to the knowledge that some political party supporters flagged issue of reserve/un-used EVMs/VVPATs being transported yesterday on Social Media.

It is hereby to inform all that as per Election Commission of India rules only polled EVMs and VVPATs are kept inside Sealed Strong Rooms and all other reserve/extra/un-used or defective un-polled machines are required to be kept at different place in designated warehouse. Hence the plan to transport un-polled machines was as per the ECI rules and was all verified as per the list of machines of different categories.

Further, an issue of Route discussion and allegation of tampering with machine was made against one polling party of Upper Burtuk in late night and team was forced to wait for three hours on the way by some people. The issue was later resolved amicably on interaction by District Administration and Security agencies. Once the polling party arrived at reception centre, all seals were checked and no tampering or irregularities were found.

Accordingly in both cases all political party representatives were briefed in detail and they were fully satisfied. Even these explanations were videographed and General Observers were briefed on the issues.

The DEO has requested all general public to not believe in any rumours about poll process tampering or any possibilities of manipulation in machines which is an impossible and unthinkable thing. He has stated that our District Election team has always worked hard as per the Election Commission of India guidelines which was followed in all processes.

All EVMs/VVPATs are numbered uniquely and the same is checked in every stage to ensure that there are no manipulation or mistakes. Everyone needs to be assured that all due process have been followed and issue raised have been resolved to the full satisfaction of concern parties. All contesting candidates have been provided with list of Commissioned EVMs and those used in Polling on the Poll day which cannot be altered.

The DEO denies allegation if any of attempts of deviations or malpractices during entire process till now and reiterates that it has been ensured that polls are totally transparent, free, fair and in accordance with Election Commission of India’s idea of democratic elections.

South District goes to exercise their franchise

Namchi, 12 Apr (IPR): Voting for the eight Assembly Constituencies and Assembly segments of Parliamentary Constituency and Sangha started on a high note in various polling stations of South District as people turned out in huge numbers to exercise their franchise today. South District has a total number of 11,7564 voters out of which 5,9359 are male and 58205 are female voters.

The first Polling team to arrive in the Control Room after successfully conducting the polling for General Elections 2019 from South District was the team stationed at Salleybong Junior High School Polling Station under 11 Namchi Singhithang Constituency while the last team to arrive at the Control room was the polling team from Tumin Secondary school under 16-Tumin Lingi constituency.

Similarly the first women polling team to arrive was the team from Namchi Senior Secondary School Room No.2 followed by the polling team of New Secondary School Room No.2 under 11-Namchi Singhithang constituency. The polling teams handed the Polled EVMs and VVPATs along with other polling materials to the concerned officials in the Control room at Namchi Senior Secondary School auditorium.

The Polling Station with the lowest number of voters in Sikkim falls under South District. The polling station is Community Hall at Pakzer under 10 Poklok- Kamrang Assembly Constituency with 175 voters.

Similarly, the Polling Station with the highest number of voters in South district is Kewzing Senior Secondary School at Barfung B under 09 Barfung Assembly Constituency with a total of 1273 voters.

A total of 30 number of Polling Station has been identified as critical Polling Stations in the district.

East District records 75.6% turnout

Gangtok, 11 Apr (IPR): The voting for the 12 Assembly Constituencies, Parliamentary and Sangha Constituencies was successfully completed in the East District today.

A total of 75.6% of the voters of East District exercised their universal adult franchise in the 214 Polling Stations of East District.

A total of 129304 voters casted their votes out of the total 171028 registered voters in East District. The overall female voter turnout was recorded at 63475 and the male voter turnout was at 65829. 68.05% was the overall total recorded for 32-Sangha Constituency, a one of its kind monastic voting reservation unique to the state of Sikkim.

East District has 12 Assembly Constituencies, one Parliamentary Constituency and one Sangha Constituency.

As per the data received, 19 Rhenock Constituency recorded the highest total voter turnout in the district with 13786 casting their votes at 79.76% of the total registered voters.

Voting peacefully concludes in West District

Gyalshing, 11 Apr (IPR): The voting for the eight Assembly Constituencies, one Parliamentary Constituency and Sangha was successfully completed in West Sikkim.

A total of 90,213 voters exercised their franchise out of the 1,10,497 registered voters in the 141 Polling Stations of West Sikkim. A total of 46,323 Males and 43,890 Females voted for the 8 Assembly Constituencies.

Also, a total of 524 voters voted for the 32-Sangha seat out of which 522 were Males and 2 were females. 

A total of 9 Model Polling Stations were designated where Braille Voting Slips, Transportation facilities for PWD Voters, help desk, resting place for Senior Voters, Coffee Vending Machines, drinking water facilities, volunteer assistance, ‘I voted’ Tags, Selfie Booths and Welcome gate for Pink Polling Booths were main highlight of the day.

Altogether 657 PWD voters are registered in West Sikkim out of which Rinchenpong has the largest number with 201 PWD voters. 200 volunteers were kept for assistance to the PWD voters who were also trained to assist them.

North District witnesses 81.74% vote cast

Mangan, 11 Apr (IPR): North district witnessed a total of 81.74% vote cast which registered 81.95 percent of female votes and 81.51 percent of male votes.

In total, there are 31, 126 registered voters in the district which includes 15,608 male and 15,518 females voters. According to figures of State Election Department, there are 12,604 registered voters in 29-Kabi Lungchuk, 9,253 voters in 30-Djongu and 7,797 voters in 31-Lachen Mangan.

General Election 2019 for Assembly constituency and Parliamentary constituency was held peacefully at 52 polling stations in the district encompassing three Constituencies i.e. 29-Kabi-Lungchok, 30-Dzongu and 31-Lachen-Mangan including Sangha.

Out of 52, there were 13 critical polling stations in the district, 10 of which were deputed with micro observers and rest of the Stations had online webcasting system. 13 Polling Stations were manned by woman.

The farthest polling station of north district is Gnathang-C Station (29/10, B.O. Forest Office, Kyongnosola) which falls under 29- Kabi Lungchuk constituency. 

After accomplishment of polls, the Polling Party, 31/12- Mangan Nagar Panchayat Office arrived to Strong Room of the District Administrative Centre (DAC), Mangan at 6:33 PM. On their arrival, the District Election Officer (DEO) cum Returning Officer (RO), Shri Raj Yadav offered Khadas to the members of Polling Party.

Oldest Voter of Sikkim cast her franchise today

Namchi, 11 Apr (IPR): 107-aged Ms. Sumitra Rai, wife of Late Sambhu Das Rai from Lower Kamrang, exercised her franchise at Government Secondary School, Kamrang Polling Station under 10 Poklok Kamrang Assembly Constituency today.

As a mark of respect and to celebrate the spirit of democracy of our State, the oldest voter of Sikkim was also felicitated by the polling officers.

Training for Presiding & Polling Officers of West district concludes

Gyalshing, 08 Apr (IPR): Four-daylong final round training which started from 5th April, 2019 for Presiding and Polling Officers of West District for the forthcoming election 2019 concluded on 8th April, 2019 at the Community Hall, Gyalshing, West Sikkim.

The training has the presence of District Election Officer (DEO) West, Shri. Karma R. Bonpo along with Mr. Karma L. Lepcha, ADC (W) and the Master trainer, Mrs. K.C.S Tongden Lepcha.

Addressing the gathering, DEO, Mr. Bonpo emphasised on forming the respective polling teams today itself and understand the task at hand and to perform their assignment as per the guidelines and leave no room for any errors. He suggested officers present to take consultations for any clarification or confusion.

He informed that, the mock poll of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is mandatory at the Polling Station before starting the general voting in presence of the polling agents of the political parties. He gave stress on filling up the “FORM 17 A” “FORM 17C” and PRESIDING OFFICER’s DIARY strictly. He also made clear to them about the duty of Presiding and Polling Officers after the poll is over.

Master trainer, Mrs. Tongden, gave directions on general duties of the presiding and polling officers, wherein she explained in detail about the role and responsibilities of the officers for conducting the election successfully. 

Hands on training on Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and VVPAT and its technical aspects were attended by all the present participants.

The Polling materials and commissioned EVMs and VVPATs to Polling Parties will be distributed from 8 am onward on the 10th April, 2019 at the Auditorium Hall, Girls Senior Secondary School, Kyongsa, Gyalshing, West Sikkim. However, the strong room will be opened at 7 am on 10th April, 2019 in the presence of representatives of Political Parties.

Training on dispatch of polling materials conducted at Brihaspati Parsai SSS

Gangtok, 08 Apr (IPR): A training session on dispatch of Polling Materials for Assembly and Parliamentary Constituency Elections to the Polling Parties was held at the Strong Room Premises at Brihaspati Parsai Senior Secondary School, Ranipool.

The training session was chaired by the District Election Officer/East-cum RO, Shri Kapil Meena, ADC/East-cum-RO, Shri Bharani Kumar, ADC Pakyong, Ms Urvashi Poudal.

The DEO thanked all the officials engaged for a successful commissioning of the EVMs and VVPATS. He informed them that the Strongroom seal will be broken on the 10th of April at 7:30 AM and thereby the dispatch process will start at 8 AM for the convenience of all.

He informed that the farthest polling party would be the first ones to be dispatched with the Polling Materials. He said that the same set of teams would continue with the same-pre assigned constituencies and changes, if any, would be communicated to the teams.

The DEO further enlightened the teams that they would be co-ordinating with the Sector Magistrates, Presiding Officers and the Polling Officers and collecting timely updates as per the guidelines of the ECI and reporting them table wise to the DEO and the ARO’s.

He directed that one memeber from each team would keep a check on the concerned constituency strong room activity to ensure that the correct materials are dispatched along with the correct team. He solicited cooperation and efficiency from all to avoid any last minute glitches during the dispatch day.

ADC Pakyong, Ms Urvashi Poudal, briefed the teams about their roles and responsibilities leading to an unobstructed routine during the day of dispatch.She stressed on the importance of writing the names of the polling stations and constituencies on the bags and ensuring that all the polling materials are compiled in the bag that would be dispatched with the polling parties.

She stated that distinguishing marks need to be used by the Presiding Officers for easy identification of the polling materials and also briefed the team on the Presiding Officers checklist for 11 documents that need to be fulfilled by the voters to be able to vote along with specimen signatures of the candidates. She went in to inform that teams need to maintain a list of contact details of the Sector Magistrates and the Presiding and Polling officers.

In conclusion, Ms Poudal stated that the efforts of the team will have a domino effect and hence, everybody should deliver their responsibilities with utmost sincerity, dedication and calmness.

District Election Office, North launches ‘PLEDGE TO VOTE’ campaign at Mangan DAC

Mangan, 08 Apr (IPR): As a part of the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) campaign and to improve voting percentage, District Election Office, North launched Signature Campaign on ‘PLEDGE TO VOTE’ at the premises of District Administrative Centre (DAC), Mangan today.

Banners have been put up on Mobile Van which will round up whole district on 9th and 10th of April. The banner encourages the voters of the district to cast their vote by signing on the pledge board.

The campaign was started by signing on the board by the General Observer (GO), North, Dr. Pratibha Singh, IAS, District Election Officer (DEO) cum Returning Officer (RO), North, Shri Raj Yadav and ADC (Development), Shri K R Limboo followed by the officers and staffs of the district.

After the signing on the board GO, Dr. Singh, DEO/RO, Shri Yadav and ADC (Dev) Shri Limboo appealed the general public of the district to come forward to cast their valuable vote on April 11.

The DEO/RO, Shri Yadav, informed that voting percentage of north district as on 2014 was 80% and this time the Election Office of the district has anticipated 90% of vote cast in the district.

The GO, Dr. Singh, has appealed to every single individual to cast their vote in order to achieve an inclusive and successful election.