Page 106 - Conducting Elections during COVID-19

88 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES OF CONDUCTING ELECTIONS DURING COVID-19

2) Guidelines for each of these categories are being issued separately.

CAMPAIGN BY THE POLITICAL PARTIES/CONTESTING CANDIDATES
1) Door to Door Campaign- Subject to any other restriction(s) including extant COVID-19 guidelines, a group
of 5 (five) persons including candidates, excluding security personnel, if any, is allowed to do door to door
campaigning.
2) Road Shows - The convoy of vehicles should be broken after every 5 (five) vehicles instead of 10 vehicles
(excluding the security vehicles, if any). The interval between two sets of convoy of vehicles should be half
an hour instead of gap of 100 meters. (In supersession of Para 5.8.1 of Returning Officer’s Handbook 2019)
3) Election Meetings - Public gatherings/ rallies may be conducted subject to adherence to extant COVID-19
guidelines. District Election Officer should take following steps for this purpose:

(a) District Election Officer should, in advance, identify dedicated grounds for public gathering with clearly
marked Entry/Exit points.
(b) In all such identified grounds, the District Election Officer should, in advance, put markers to ensure
social distancing norms by the attendees.

(c) Nodal District Health Officer should be involved in the process to ensure that all COVID-19 related
guidelines are adhered to by all concerned in the district.
(d) District Election Officer and District Superintendent of Police should ensure that the number of
attendees does not exceed the limit prescribed by State Disaster Management Authority for public
gatherings.
(e) DEO should depute Sector Health Regulators to oversee that COVID-19 instructions/guidelines are
being followed during these meetings.

(f) The political parties and candidates concerned should ensure that all COVID-19 related requirement
like face masks, sanitizers, thermal scanning etc. are fulfilled during each of these activities.
(g) Non-compliance of Instructions – Anybody violating instructions on COVID-19 measures will be liable
to proceeded against as per the provisions of Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005,
besides legal action under Section 188 of the IPC, and other legal provisions as applicable, as specified
in Order No. 40-3/2020-DM-I(A) dated 29th July, 2020 of Ministry of Home Affairs. District Election
Officer should bring this to the notice of all concerned.
4) Allocation of public spaces must be done using Suvidha app in the manner already prescribed by
Commission.

STRONG-ROOM ARRANGEMENT
1) Strong Room should be sanitized after completion of poll day.
2) Social Distancing and other safety norms shall be followed for each activity.
COUNTING OF VOTES

1) Not more than 7 counting tables should be allowed in a counting hall. Hence, counting of votes of a
constituency may be considered at 3-4 halls by appointing additional Assistant Returning Officers. (In
supersession of instructions dated 30th April, 2014)
2) Carrying cases of CUs/VVPATs should be sanitized before placing over counting tables.
3) De-sealing of CUs/VVPATs and displaying Result on CU should be done by one official on each table.
4) Display of result from the Control Units may be displayed on a large screen to avoid accommodation of large
number of counting agents.
5) The counting centers shall be disinfected before, during and after the counting.
6) For counting of Postal Ballots, additional number of AROs may be required. If required, Postal Ballots may
also be counted in a separate hall under the supervision of the Returning Officer/Assistant Returning officer.

Based on these broad guidelines, a detailed COVID-19 related comprehensive plan will be prepared at the State
level, taking local conditions into account. In case of General Elections, three-layer plan will be prepared in
consultation with the concerned Nodal Health Officers: AC, District, and State levels. In case of bye-elections,
the plans will be prepared at the District and AC levels in consultation with respective Nodal Health Officers. In
case, more than one district is involved, such plans will be prepared by the Returning Officer of the Parliamentary
Constituency in coordination with the DEOs, wherever required.