Voters yet to warm up to cVIGIL, only 63 reports so far

The app that has been introduced for the first time to enable citizens report poll violations has evoked a lukewarm response in the city.

In contrast, the conventional election control room, which functions using telephone numbers received a whopping 11,200 plus complaints till March 20.

According to a Corporation official, “A majority of the complaints are about illegal banners, graffiti and party flag poles. Public can also send complaints regarding any violation of model code of conduct through the cVIGIL app too.”

He added that more complaints would flood the control room after the release of the final list of candidates and when campaign by parties gathers steam. “Voters can send complaints on the distribution of cash for votes too,” the official said.

Explaining the functioning of the cVIGIL application, the official said the public could only send live photos or videos of the violations and must desist from sending media files of the past violations. “Once the complaint is registered, details of the complaint will be sent to the nearby flying squad team (FST) with the GIS-based coordinates of the location where the photo or video has been taken. The action taken report will be sent to the complainant, district election officer, chief election officer and the Election Commission (EC),” the official explained. “This process is being followed to prevent fake complaints,” the official noted.

Meanwhile, another top official of the Chennai Corporation said that many city voters have a habit of calling the poll observers directly to report any misconduct. To avoid this, the civic body was promoting the application. A testimony to this fact was the number of complaints – 11,200 – received at the conventional election control room.

The civic body had already formed 144 flying squad teams and 144 static surveillance teams to curb illegal cash flow and to address the complaints received at the control room and through cVIGIL application.