The Election Commission has issued a set of directions for the installation of CCTV cameras inside and outside polling booths to ensure the smooth streaming of videos during the voting on April 23 and 29.
The installation of CCTV cameras was completed at 44,378 booths spread across 152 Assembly segments where polling will be held on April 23. "The trial run of the cameras installed at these booths would be completed by Saturday night. The installation process had started 10 days before polling day," said a source on the poll panel.
The EC asked sector officers and booth-level officers to be present during the installation of the cameras.
"The sector officer and the BLOs of a booth were tasked with the responsibility of identifying the precise points where the cameras should be installed inside and outside the booths," said an EC official.
The EC also gave a checklist of things to be kept in mind while identifying the point on the wall where the cameras should be installed.
The officials should identify the point of installation by keeping in mind the Internet network strength and that cameras could cover the maximum area inside the booth. For outside-the-booth cameras, it should be ensured that the queue of voters is optimally covered. All cameras should be installed at a height where they cannot be damaged easily.
Before installing the camera inside the booth, the sector officer should earmark the place where the voting compartment would be set up. The area should be marked with a permanent marker on the floor. The area for the voting compartment should be marked in a place that is visible to the camera, but the EVM should not be visible to ensure secrecy.
Sources on the poll panel said this was the first time that the EC fixed responsibility on sector officers and BLOs for the installation of cameras.
"In the past, the agencies used to install cameras inside the booth according to their wish. As a result, it was found that 40 per cent of the cameras did not work properly during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The EC did not want a similar situation this time," said a source.
Another official said that the poll panel was cautious about the cameras this time after it found that apart from cameras not functioning properly, many were damaged, and the lenses of some were painted with dark colours or black tape stuck on them.
"This time, the poll panel would not hesitate to order repolling if the cameras don't function for a certain period during the poll day," said an official in the poll panel.
New voters
The EC revealed that of the 7.09 lakh new voters, who had applied through Form 6, had been added to the electoral rolls of Bengal, taking the total number of electors in the state to 6.82 crore.
According to sources on the poll panel, a total of about 91 lakh names were deleted from the electoral rolls following the SIR, which had brought down the total number of electors in the state to 6.75 crore.
"But with the addition of more than seven lakh new voters, the figure of total electors stands now at 6.82 crore. Of them, 3.49 crore are men and 3.33 crore are women," said a source.