ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA

Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi-110001

NO. 464/INST/2008/EPS DATED: 19th September, 2008

To,

1. The Chief Secretaries of

All States/UTs.

2. The Chief Electoral Officers of

All States/UTs.

Subject: Drafting of Polling Personnel for election duty – Randomization of

Polling Personnel.

Sir,

It has always been endeavor of the Commission to ensure free and fair
elections and towards that end it has issued instructions from time to time on
various aspects of election process including formation of polling parties. The
duties discharged by polling personnel in the conduct of elections are of vital
importance. They are the face of the Commission in the minds of electorate,
polling agents, media and the candidates etc. Therefore, sufficient care is
needed to draft and deploy such personnel and formation of unbiased polling
parties in the interest of free and fair election. Accordingly, the Commission lays
down the following instructions for formation of polling parties:-

(i) A District Election Officer-wise database, of all eligible poll personnel

shall be maintained in electronic format, which can facilitate
computerized randomization. All relevant particulars like Name, Sex,
Place (constituency) of residence, work place, Home Constituency,
Designation, Office and Department/Institutions should be entered.

(ii) The database shall contain, distinctly and separately, the State Govt.
employees including Public Sector Undertakings, teachers etc. who
can be employed as polling personnel.

(iii) Similarly the data base shall distinctly and separately contain all
Central Govt. employees including PSU, Bank, etc.

(iv) Separate database shall be prepared of Retired Government of India

and State Government officials as well as of Members of NCC & NSS
[and reputed NGOs, if & as approved by the Commission]. They shall
 be used in specified manner only with express prior approval of the
Commission.

(v) Unless otherwise advised, the polling parties shall be formed out of the
State Govt. employees. The Central Govt. employees including PSUs
and Banks, etc. shall be utilized for selecting suitable persons as Micro
Observers.

(vi) Presiding Officers and Polling Officers shall be classified on the basis
of scale of pay and their post and rank. As far as practicable, Gazetted
Officers will be deployed as Presiding Officers and failing that officials
who are working in supervisory capacity only should be deployed as
Presiding Officers. The Presiding Officer should be of higher
scale/grade in comparison to other Polling Officers of that formation.

(vii) In view of the recent instructions regarding issue of postal ballot

papers, Assembly Constituency No., Part No., Sl. No. of each and
every official shall be indicated. In case, he is not a voter, in the
process of continuous updation he should be enrolled in the electoral
roll of Assembly Constituency concerned and Elector Photo Identity
Card issued. Similarly, the personnel meant for being appointed as
Micro observers should invariably be enrolled as voter and Elector
Photo Identity Card issued. Therefore, persons put on polling duties
should invariably be voters. Further, no person will be assigned polling
duties in an assembly constituency in which he is posted or in which he
resides or the constituency, which is his home constituency.

(viii) In order to avoid any allegation of collusion among the polling personnel
in favour of any candidate or political party and to instill confidence in
the minds of Political Parties and candidates about free and fair
elections, proper mix of polling personnel drawn from different offices
and departments at the time of formation of a polling party should be
ensured. Two officials of the same serial group/category should not be
put together. Further, two members of the polling party should not be
from the same department (in case of school teachers, they should not
be from the same school.

(ix) Polling personnel database should include personnel both from the
State Government departments as well as the Central government
offices. Central Government employees should be utilized for micro
observer duties to be decided by Observers. Polling personnel to be
posted within the district unless specifically directed otherwise.

2
Following procedure should be adopted for formation of polling parties:-

(x) Database & software should be prepared and developed by the CEO and
distributed among DEOs. District Election Officers should obtain a
complete database of officers eligible for polling party duties from
respective authorities. All relevant information should be entered into
an electronic database of the computerized randomization application
software approved by the CEO for that state.

(xi) From this full database of officers, a list of 120% of the required number
of polling persons should be generated (including reserve) randomly,
using the software. This is the first of the three-stage randomization
process. Presence of observers is not required at this stage. It should
be noted that this randomized list is DEO-wise and not at any other level
like subdivision, tehsil, block, assembly constituency etc. This is only to
identify and select the officials that would be given training for poll duties
as presiding and polling officers in whichever constituency of that
district. In no case, at this stage, the identity of the assembly
constituency to which the polling personnel are likely to be deployed will
be known. All that the polling personnel will know at this stage is whether
he (or she) is a presiding officer or a polling officer and the venue and
time of trainings.

(xii) The second stage of randomization exercise should be done in the

presence of the Observers deployed in the constituency. At this stage
actual polling parties shall be formed on random basis using the
randomization software. The Observer must be present at this stage.
At this stage though the actual polling station will not be known,
however, the Assembly Constituency and the team composition may be
known. This randomization should not take place before 6 or 7 days from
the day of poll. For the purpose of serving the appointment letters, the
DEO can use the services of the sponsoring departments/ authority
and/or organize a training programme of poll personnel in team
formation on that date when final briefing can be given and appointment
letters issued to them. It will also facilitate Postal Balloting.

(xiii) The third stage of randomization exercise shall take place at the time of
dispersal of polling parties when the allocation of polling stations to the
poling parties will be done. This third stage randomization for final
allocation of Polling Stations to each Polling Party should also be done in
the presence of Observers. The actual polling station allotted to
individual polling personnel is to be disclosed just before the polling party
actually leaves the dispersal centre.

3
(xiv) In order to ensure that above instructions are complied with strictly, the
Commission directs that the District Election Officer shall furnish to the
Election Commission through the Observers and separately to the Chief
Electoral Officer of the State/UT a certificate to the following effect
immediately after the polling parties have been formed for an election:-

“Certified that:-
(I) The polling parties have been formed by a proper mix
of officials drawn from different offices and departments, in
presence of Observers and

(II) The officers have been drawn from the State

Government departments as well as from the State Public
Undertaking etc. as far as practicable.

(III) For the purpose of making polling parties complete

data base of all eligible employees in the district has been
used.”

(xv) It is clarified that the entire randomization exercise except the first stage
must invariably be done in the presence of the Observers sent to the
constituency. If, by any chance, the forming of the polling parties through
randomization (second stage) has been done in the absence of the
Observers, then the 2nd stage randomization exercise should be done
afresh in the presence of Observers and compliance report should be
submitted in this regard. The Observers should make a special
reference to the randomization exercise observed by them in their
constituencies while submitting the report.

Kindly acknowledge receipt.

Yours faithfully,

(SHANGARA RAM)
PRINCIPAL SECRETARY

4
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Dated: iSth Marci't ,7Ct74

i\o 464liNSI DPS/2013 -EPS

To

The Chief Electoral Officers of

nll the States and Union Territories'

Surhjeet: Genera! [!ect!on to the Lok sabha, 20x.4 -'Dignity cf $rallling staft -
Regarding.

lVlaaam / 5ir,

lnspiteofadoptionofautomationandtechnologyinval.iot.ts
primarily requires human
activitir.:s, the conduct of election in our country
iritervr:ntion at every stage. the personnel involved
irr the conduct of ellcctiort
the least that can be done is
shcuirjer lhreir rJuty in demancling situations. Therefore,
basic arncnitics" Thc necd for
lo tri,'at thorn with propriety ancl to provide for certain
can neve!'be over cnrphasiscd'
hurnan ?-(-,source i-nanagement in condLrct of eiectron

2.lhoughinstructionshavebeenissuedoveraperiodoftimethaicovei.
resource management' the
almost ail the rnaior concerns and aspects of human
comnnission has observed with great concern that
still there are gaps tn actual

of these instructions. The commission desires that

facilitation of the
implenrenrtation
plan' Starting
polling personnel should be an integral part of election management

from the top level in the field to the last Polling Personnel, the rvell-beinrg of
attention'
personnel relateci to conduct of election should receive ;ldequatc

vide its lettei's

3. ln continuation of the commission's instructions issued

lisi-ed in Annexure-! on the subject mentioned against each' the foilowing

personnel engaged in conduct of election
instructions on appropriate treatment of
shail be followed strictlY:
Nodai Officer
Whiic prcparii'rg the district machinery for the conduct of eiection, the District
liociror': Officer shall identify a senior officer as the Nodal Officer to coordinate and

supei'vise polling personnel welfare measures on the lines of a Distl'ici Welfare

Officer, wherever prevaient. Similarly, each Returning Officer shali identify a Nodal

Cfficer for the above purpose. The name and designation, office and residential
address, teiephone numbers including mobile number and e-nnail iD of the nodal

oflicer shail be mentioned in the district / constituency election manageryrent plan.

fhe contact numbers should also be brought to the notice of the polling personnetr

drafted for election duty.

5er:ronity

ihc Cornrn;ssion has hreen receiving representations regarding assigning of election

rluiy without ciue consirjeration to the Serriorrty of personnei drawn frorn dlfferent
Departrnents/ Crganisations.lhere were litigations filed in this regard by few aggrieved

pe-.rsonnei in the past and directions of various Courts are also avaiiabie in the rnatter.
J-hc Corrimission desires that while assigning election duties to various officiais, tireir
scnionity should Lre takerr into account and it should be ensured that a senior official is

rrot put on duty under an official who is junior to hirn/ her. The existing instructions in

the mat[er are explanatory and should be implemented irr letter and spirit without any
ricviation.

Dispatch eentne & Receiving eentre Arrangement

Thc Cornmission is greatly concerned with chaotic situation aI the dispatch centres
arid i'ccciving centres that rernains a persistent problern. The dispatch centres for
issuing polling material and reception centres for polled election materials shall be

managed efficiently and professionally by senior officials. Arrangements for health

care and refreshment shouli be made without disturbing the distribution and
receiving of election materials. The polling personnel shall not be held up
unnecessarily at the reception centre after they have handed over all polling

matcrial. Once EVMs and other documents are handed over, the poiiing staff shall be

i"e!!eved from the duty without any deiay. Advance measures shou!d be in place to
erisurc ihat transport faciiity including public bus service etc. is available for them to

rcaclr i.hein lronre, at the earliest.

F$oci & Civic Arnenities

Thc pol!ing personnel should not be put into difficulty for Iack of provision in rernote

arcas for getting their food. An exercise shall be undertaken through Sector Officers
as to how such probiems can be sorted out. lt is relevant to note that it rnay not be

rtcsi;-ab!c on the part of polling personnel to venture out for the sake of getting food
in remote locations. lt is also undesirable to avail the local hospitality as that may

lcad to conrplaints. ln some States there is a practice of providing a Gr.-lV staff in

the polling team who cooks food and serves the polling party. The DtO shall review

the situation and ensure that proper alternative arrangements are made depending
on ths. iocal conditions and limitations.

E-iealth Care

lhe health care of the polling personnel is another important concern. At the
ti-aining ccr'rtrc as well as in dispatch / reception centres, there should be separate

ai-rangements for providing health care/first-aid assistance to the poiling personnei.

Medicai siaff/para-medical staff shall be stationed in those locations to be avaiiable

in case of any requirement.

tvery polling party shall be supplied with oral rehydration salts for their own use as well as

for any voter needing the same due to heat-stroke. A hand-bill on 'Do's and Don'ts'in case
of heat stroke may be prepared and supplied to each of the poJJing parties. A small First-Aid

kit containing basic medicines with user instructions should be provided to each polling
party. ln this regard, the DEO should prepare a standard list of medicine and user
insti'uctions in consultation with the District Chjef Medical Officer, in F-nglish/ Hindi/ Re gional

Languages as the case may be, for the benefit of polling personnel.

ihc I)EO shali rcquisition the services of para-medical staff from the offices of the Chief
District Medical Officers and one such Para Medical Staff member shall accompany every
mobile Patrol Unit and Sector Officer in their vehicles along with essential heat-stroke
medicines. Such mobile patrol units shall touch every polling station once in every hour so

that instant medical assistance would be available to any voter needing such help besides
the first aid facilities given to the polling parties.
'l-;"anspontatie
n

A senior officer shouid supervise the arrangement made for provicjing transport
veiricles for the travel of the polling personnel. The movement of the poliing
pcrsonnei/security forces shall be tracked closely and a confirmatory repori should

be obtained through Sector Officer on the safe arrival of the polling personnei at the

polling stations.

Fayrvlents

Arrangements for prompt payment of remuneration etc. should be made by all

D[Os. Apart from this, the system of making ex-gratia / conrpensation payrnent in
casc of an unfortunate event of injury or death of polling personncl requircs prornpt

disposal. Computerized data-base of Polling Personnel may be updated with the

Savings Bank Account Numbers of all Polling Personnel, in this regard.

Exernption

Ihc Comrnisslon has exempted certain offices / institutions for the purposes of
eiection duty in view of the essential nature of duties / services discharged by the

institutions. Further, physically challenged persons are not to be deployed for polling

duty. lhere are guidelines to engage female employees for polling duty. Engagement
cf child labour in election related work is strictly not acceptable. These instructions
should be kept in view at all times to avoid violation of relevant Acts enacted for this

pu rpose.

Please acknowledge receipt of the letter.

Yours faithfully,

IT MUKHERJEE)
SECRETARY
 Annexure-i

.-t6 i i\Sl-'2008/trrPs tit{tisLre.i in the Pollinu PcrsonucI

Mattuge tttt.ttl.
:76', j 09.08.200.1 Assigning cicction dLriies Sctlioi'ilv o1'
otllcrals to be t:rken into cot-tsicietatioit.
4s 8/4/96/PS -lV/Vo1-ll 22.07.1996 Provisior.r of Mir-rimuni Facilitie s to
Pregnant Women Polling Personuel
nrrring Poll.
--_..-,
46,4/INST/2008/EPS 1 r 02.2009 General Illeclion to Lok Sabha. 200c)
Dratiing of'J'eachcrs / \\'ot-ue tr / Prcgnanl

,-- Yqrle! al lql Lin g !91 so n ne|

464/INS'f/2008/EPS ;:iiiool Drafiing of Physically Challenged
Personnel for Filection Dr-rtv.
464I 1 nst. I 2.004 -P LN - I 06.03.2004 General Election to [-ok Sabha, 2004-

4(.l4/iN ST/2008-IIPS 26 12 2008

Deployurcnt o1' Oflicers ar-rci Stai'1

4(14llN ST/2 00_4 q L i-\l L 24!1 100!_

46t[I\nsil2005/PLN-I 13.04 2005
l(, t INS/2(107 P1-N-i t1.12.2007
464ltNS172009/EPS
Election Process.
64lINST/l00qiE PS F\"*g lniio,',ii Rate of R.cmrtncratiotr
4
"il
fbr Payment to Stafl'Dcployed oir Poil/
Counting Duty and fbr Provisiott o1'

9.02.1996 Payrnent of 100% TA / DA as Advance to

Persons Put on Eleclior-r Dr-rtY.
218/6/2009/EPS 17.02.2009 Payrnent of Ex-gratia Compensation to the
Families of Folling Persotrnel Who Die or
QUllei" ln1L1!es W[ile on _Election D-!1y-. -
464lINS'f/2013-EPS 10.201 3 Payment of Ex-gratia Compensation to the
Families of Polling Personnel Who Die or
SUI+Uiqq.,gs W_[!19 9n E1991ion D!ty,
e.

x{rgfl fuqlq-{ etlq)q

E.LECTION COMMISSICIN OF' HNT}{A
EPABX 0l t-2371739t-98
Fax 0l l-2371 341 2D3739944
Website: www.eci.nic. in
erqryo *f*u[H,,onu,
Nirvaclran Sadan.
Ashol<a Road. New Delhi- I 1000 t

No.464llNST I20L4-EpS Dated 28th March, 20i-4

To
The Chief Electoral Officers of
All the States & Union Territories.

Subject: Drafting of Polling Personnel for Election Duty

- Secr:nd Randomisation of
Polling personnel - Regarding.

Madam / Sir, :

Please refer to the commission's instructions No.464/INST/zoog/Etrs,

dated 19th'September, 2008 r:egarding drafting of polling personnel, wherein the
Commission directed that second randomisation of polling personnel should not
take
place before six or seven days from the day of poll.

2. The Commission has reviewed the matter ancj rlecided to permit the
second randomisation of polling personnel as soon as after the completion
of scrutiny of
nomination papers, for effective and systematic irnplementation of the Cr:mmission,s
instructions for issuance of Election Duty Certificate (EDC) and postal Ballot (pB).
t-he
second randomisation of polling personnel should be done in the presence clf the
Observer. The second training of pollirrg personnel may be conducted as per the
convenience of the Returning Officer.

This may be brought to the notice of all concerned. please acknowledge

receipt of the letter.

Yours faittrfully,

(suMtr MUKHERJEE)
SECREI"ARY
\

Election Ureent
By Fax/Camp Bag

ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA

Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi-110 001.

No 464lINST/2014-EPS Dated: 4th April,2Ot4

To

The Chief Electoral Officers of

all States and Union Territories.

Sub: Presence of Observer during randomization of polling personnel, sealing of

strong room/ scrutiny of Form-17A and during counting.

Sir / Madam,

The Commission has been issuing instructions on the subject cited from
time to time- In this context, the presence of Observers during vital events such as
randomization of polling personnel, sealing of strong room, scrutiny of Form-17A and
during counting, has been prescribed vide Commission's instructions in the past and
have been reiterated from time to time.

It has been brought to the notice that in some Parliamentary Constituencies,

there will be a mismatch in number of observers available and the locations in which
such vital activities as referred to above are taken place as there is no uniformity in
terms of locations of strong rooms/counting centres, district headquarters, RO's
headquarters, etc. To handle this situatioru over and above the existing instructions of
the CommissiorL the following instructions are issued which shall be followed
depending on the requirement of the parliamentary constituency/district by the
ROs/DEOs and the Observers collectively:-

1. Randomization of polling personnel:-

The inshuctions regarding randomization have already been issued. Depending on the

number of observers available within the constituency, the DEO/RO concerned in

consultation with the observers will decide the location where such randomization will
take place. In the process it shall be ensured that one of the observer remain present at
 the time of any such randomization takes place. In order to ensure compliance to this,
wherever necessary, the ARO may bring the software/database for randomization in
the presence of observer and take the list of polting persorurel in the sealed cover.

2. Sealing of strong room:-

IAlherever the number of strong rooms exceed the number of observers, following
action shall be taken:-
In case of more than one strong rooms in the same premises or in the same town, the
sequencing of closure or sealing of strong room can be coordinated in such a way that
one of the Observer remain present at the time of closing of each strong room without
any deviation. In case strong room locations are disfuibuted in the constifuency,
observers of the PC and the DEO/RO wiIl, in advance, decide which observer will
remain present at the time of closure of which strong room. The information should
also be made available to the contesting candidates or their election agents in advance.

Even after making these arrangements, if the number of observers is still less than the
number of strong rooms, the RO and Observer concerned shall authorize one of the
Micro Observers to remain present as a representative of the Observer. In such case,
the RO and observer have to take due care to select a most suitable micro observer
from the list of micro observers and give advance information to all concerned. In such
cases/ the DEO/RO shall ensure that one senior officer alongwith ARO of the district
administration remain present. In such cases, a joint report alongwith videography
will be submitted by the ARO and Micro Observer jointly to the RO and Observer.
After getting joint report from ARO/Micro Observer, the RO and the Observer shall
record their satisfaction about the process of closure of strong room. Similarly,
candidates or their agents may also have the problem of not being available in all
strong rooms. In such a situation, the candidates may be allowed to send an
authorized representative who will have the authority of the candidate in writing, also
carry a photo ID card and who should be a voter within the concerned parliamentary
constituency.

J. Scrutiny of Form-l7A:-
The scrutiny of Form-17A alongwith other documents will be taken up at L1:00 A.M.
on the day following the day of poll at the headquarters of the Returning Officer and
in presence of Observer. A1l contesting candidates shall be given an advance notice in
 writing under proper acknowledgement so that they or their agent/representatives
remain present. An assembly constituency wise schedule for taking up scrutiny shall
I be prepared and it will be ensured that all documents with regard to assembly
segments whete strong room is at the place different from the RO's headquarters are

brought by the ARO to RO headquarters in time to scrutiny to be undertaken.

4. Security of Strong Room:

The strong room shall be opened at the time so appointed in the presence of candidates
and their representatives after verifying the intactness of the seal. After taking out
copies of Forms 17C and, the packets containing Forms 17A and marked copies of
electoral roll in respect of such polling stations (where polling has been more than the
percentage as prescribed by the Commission after the end of poll) for scrutiny, the
strong room shall be duly closed and sealed after making entry in the log-book and
obtaining the signatures of all candidates or their representatives as may be present.
The whole process shall be videographed.

5. Transportation of Form 17-A, Marked Copy of the Electoral Roll, Presiding Officer
Dia{v Form L7-C etc.

All re1evant papers required for scrutiny of Form 17-C shall be transported from strong
room to RO headquarter under proper police escort along with executive magistrate.
Candidates and their representatives shall be allowed to follow the vehicle
transporting relevant papers. In this regard proper information about the travel plan
should be given to the candidates/rher Election Agents or their authorized
representatives.
6. During the process of scrutiny the candidates / their election agents or their authorized
representatives may watch the proceedings so that they can get a clear view of the
proceedings but, are not able to handle the election papers/material or interfere with
the proceedings.
7. Post-scrutiny procedure :

After scrutiny, the Forms 17 A,17C and marked copies of electoral ro11 for each polling
station, other documents and material shall be re-sealed with the seal of the Returning
Officer. The candidates or their election agents/representatives presen! may also be
allowed to affix their seal or signature thereon, if they so desire. These sealed
envelopes shall then be kept back in the strong room from which they were taken out.
 This shall also be done in the presence of the candidates or their election
agents/representatives. The room shall then be sealed with the seal of
the Returning
officer. The candidates or their representatives mgalso affix their seals/signatures
thereon of they so desire.
8' After scrutiny of Forms 17A,17C and other documents and materials, the
Returning
Officer and Observer shall make necessary recofiunendations to the Commission
for
repoll, wherever considered necessary, giving reasons polling station wise.
In case of
any difference of opinion, the same shall be reflected indicating the reason
for the same
in their respective reports.

This may be brougfit to the notice of all concerned.

rr,^iri(i",t""t
I
Secretary