EC seeks report from all booths, raises repoll fear

Kolkata: The Election Commission has sought a detailed report on all aspects of polling from every one of Bengal's 77,247 booths that voted over seven days between April 4 and May 5. The unprecedented move - of asking for a report from every booth in the state - was an attempt to examine specific demands for re-polls in some booths, EC officials indicated.
Election observers' reports have already stated that the situation on the seven polling days did not warrant a re-poll, but Wednesday's EC move shows that it is not taking those reports at face value. The EC had declared re-poll at nine booths 11 days after the 2014 Lok Sabha poll in Bengal; the re-poll demand, at that time, was for 42 booths.
This time, a staggering 55,352 complaints were lodged with the EC. The bulk of these were of intimidation and violation of secrecy and the EC had to file FIRs in many cases. The fourth phase - when North 24-Parganas and Howrah voted - accounts for the highest number of voting-day complaints (4,173). Given this backdrop, sources say, it wouldn't be prudent to discount the cries for re-polling without proper scrutiny. "This is something only the EC can decide. But if you ask me, theoretically, given the timeline a re-poll can definitely be conducted. It is always factored in the poll-schedule," said Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Gupta, though he avoided specific queries.
District election officers (district magistrates) have to send all the booth-wise reports to EC by Thursday - exactly a week before counting on May 19, say officials.
Sources in the state CEO office on Wednesday claimed "this isn't unprecedented", but the sheer volume of the report being sent to EC suggests otherwise. A senior EC official from Delhi hinted about a re-poll in select booths.
The EC has asked for exhaustive reports on every booth - the presiding officer's logbook, the report, plus photographs and video footage. It also wants reports of the observers, returning officers and police observers for all assembly constituencies. District magistrates have commissioned officers to carry the material from the districts and take them to Delhi on 24 hours notice. "We have already informed the DEOs and they have appointed one to three persons, depending on the volume of the material to be carried," an official said.
Meanwhile, the postal ballot controversy continues unabated with CPM filing a complaint with the EC that the state is preventing its employees from getting postal ballots. EC officials rejected the allegation, saying that these ballots were issued four days ago.