Poll Preparations: Exclusive cVIGIL control room set up in city

“We have been installing computers and LED screens at the dedicated control room in the Ripon Buildings. We will forward the complaints received from the public to the flying squads, which is closer to the spot and they will attend to the issue,” a Chennai Corporation official said.

The Election Commission (EC) had rolled out the application to receive complaints from the citizen pertaining to the violation of the model code of conduct (MCC). The cVIGIL application is being used for the first time in any elections in the country.

Even though the application was rolled out on Sunday, the civic body, which conducts the election in three Parliamentary constituencies in Chennai district, is yet to receive the first complaint through cVIGIL, as of Tuesday.

The official explained that the citizen using application should take picture or video of the violation and send to the concerned district election office. “As the EC is monitoring the cVIGIL, field level officials should dispose of the complaint within 100 hours. Once the complaint is rectified, a message will be sent to the complainant if they have registered their phone number. Complainants who prefer anonymity can also use the application without providing their contact information,” the official added.

Meanwhile, the civic body, in order to keep track of the contents published on social media and the Internet, has decided to appoint a team to monitor the social media platforms to check paid advertisements.

“The social media team will be part of the Media Monitoring Centre, which would monitor the content published in newspapers and broadcast in televisions,” the official said.

The Election Commission has also rolled out ‘Voters Helpline App’ to help the voters to check their names in the electoral list and other events of the EC.

Voters who had missed to include their names in the electoral rolls can register themselves as the Greater Chennai Corporation is accepting new applications for name inclusion till March 26.

“Even though we released the final voters’ list in January, we, usually, accept applications throughout the year and include names,” a Chennai Corporation Election Department official said.

He added that as the Lok Sabha elections are announced, missed out voters could apply until March 26, which is the last date for filing nominations.

Meanwhile, the civic body has received more than 70,000 applications from January 11 to March 11. “Printing of EPIC (voters’ ID) is ongoing and the cards will be issued to the voters, whose names are present in final voters’ list, before the elections. Voters, who apply after the release of the list, will also get the EPIC card,” he added.

The official also explained that the voters, whose names are included in the list but could not receive the voters ID, are eligible to vote using Aadhaar card, driving licence and other approved documents. “We will accept Form-6 (for inclusion) till March 26,” he said.

According to the final electoral list, there are 38,18,999 voters in Chennai district that has 16 Assembly constituencies and three Parliamentary constituencies. Of the total voters in the district, 19,34,078 are women and 18,83,989 are men. There are 932 transgender voters in the city.

Also, the names of 43,829 first-time voters (18 years of age) are present in the list.