The Election Commission will for the first time not allow political parties to set up booths outside polling stations. With Punjab set to attain a 100 per cent photo electoral rolls target before the Assembly elections in the state, the old practice of booth agents of various political parties giving voter slips to voters will end.
Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, who was here to review election preparedness, said Punjab has already attained 99.6 per cent of the photo electoral rolls target and would achieve 100 per cent before the Assembly polls. “We will be directly issuing voter slips to voters. The political parties will not be allowed booths any more in the Punjab elections,” he added.
The EC on Wednesday held parleys with the seven major political parties of the state. Giving the details of the meeting, Dr Quraishi said that apart from the use of liquor to lure voters, common in many parts of India, for the first time they have received complaints that drugs are also being offered in Punjab to entice voters. “We have shared this information with the D-G, narcotics, of India,” he said.