The Election Commission (EC) has issued significant directives regarding the involvement of village and ward secretariat staff and volunteers in election duties for the upcoming elections in Andhra Pradesh (AP).
According to the EC, village and ward secretariat staff should only be tasked with applying ink to voters’ fingers and should not be assigned any other important election duties.
The EC emphasized that staff who previously served as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) should not participate in polling duties and instead be assigned alternative tasks on polling day.
Furthermore, the EC explicitly stated that volunteers should not be involved in any aspect of the election process, including as polling agents for candidates. In short, Volunteers have been ordered to stay away from election duties.
In response to these directives, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has communicated to local authorities that village and ward secretariat staff can be appointed for election duties but should not be given primary responsibilities during the polling process.
Many concerns have been raised by the opposition about the volunteer system implemented by the Andhra Pradesh government, with allegations of misuse of public data and potential manipulation of voting trends.
Additionally, there are accusations that the government is using volunteers to gather data that could be used to influence voting patterns in favor of the ruling party.
Given these concerns, the EC’s ruling provides a sense of relief for the opposition party, offering assurance that steps are being taken to uphold the democratic principles of fairness and transparency in the electoral process.
