CEC reviews poll preparedness in Telangana

Hyderabad, Oct 23 An Election Commission team, led by Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat, on Tuesday reviewed the poll preparedness in Telangana for the December 7 assembly elections.

The team held a meeting with senior civil and police officials to take stock of the the election machinery.

The CEC and others discussed with top officials the arrangements being made for the single-phase election, as well as the law and order situation in the state.

On the second day of a three-visit here, the CEC inaugurated at Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) office a mobile van to create awareness among voters. He inspected the van equipped with electronic voting machines and voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATS).

Rawat also unveiled Voter Accessibility App for the persons with disabilities Abled (VAADA- a promise), and distributed voter ID cards to the physically challenged.

Developed by GHMC, VAADA helps persons with disabilities participate in the voting process with ease. The application has text, voice as well as GIS (Geographic Information System) interface.

Rawat said that the election panel was also using a C-Vigil app for the first time on a pilot basis to check electoral malpractices.

Hyderabad District Electoral Officer and GHMC Commissioner Dana Kishore explained the functions of the VAADA app to the ECI officials and briefed them about the facilities for the physically challenged voters.