Tag Archives: election commission

ECINET Enabled Faster Reporting And Enhanced Cybersecurity During 2026 Elections

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  1. Election Commission of India’s (ECI) robust IT platform ECINET played a central role in streamlining election processes including real-time monitoring, enabling faster reporting, and enhancing transparency during the General Elections to Legislative Assemblies and Bye-elections 2026.
  2. Since its official launch in January 2026, ECINET app has witnessed a significant surge in usage and has over 10 crore downloads till date. The beta version of ECINET was used in Bihar elections in November 2025.
  3. On poll-days, i.e., April 9, 23 and 29, ECINET recorded over 98.3 crore hits and on the counting day i.e. May 4, 2026, ECINET recorded an average of 3 crore hits per minute.
  4. ECINET cybersecurity protocols resulted in effectively countering over 68 lakh malicious hits on counting day originating from both within India and overseas, targeting key election platforms, including the results portal.
  5. In a significant step towards enhancing security at the Counting Centres, a new QR code–based Photo Identity Card system was used for the first time on counting day across all States/UTs in these elections through ECINET.
  6. On counting day, over 3.2 lakh QR codes were generated to ensure that only authorised personnel could access counting venues, thereby preventing any unauthorized entry in the Counting Centers.

 

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General Elections to Legislative Assemblies and bye-elections 2026; Implementation of Dry-Day

General Elections to Legislative Assemblies and bye-elections 2026; Implementation of Dry-Day

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Implementation of Dry-Day

  1. Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the General Election to Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and bye-elections in 6 states on March 15, 2026.
  2. Polling in the State of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal (Phase-I) is scheduled for April 23, 2026 (Thursday), and for West Bengal (Phase-II) it will be conducted on April 29, 2026 (Wednesday), with the counting of votes for all polling States and Union Territories to take place on May 4, 2026 (Monday).
  3. Section 135C of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 provides that no spirituous, fermented or intoxicating liquor or other substances of like nature shall be sold, given or distributed at a hotel, eating house, tavern, shop or any other place, public or private, within a polling area during the period of forty-eight hours ending with the hour fixed for the conclusion of poll for any election in the polling area.
  4. In view of the statutory provision as above, ‘Dry day’ shall be declared and notified under the relevant State/Union Territory laws as is appropriate during 48 hours, ending with the hours fixed for conclusion of poll with respect to polling day for an election in that polling area where General Election to Legislative Assembly is being held. This will include the date of re-poll, if any.
  5. The Commission also directs that the date on which Counting of votes is to be taken up i.e. May 4, 2026 (Monday) shall also be declared ‘Dry Day’ under the relevant laws in poll going State/UT.
  6. No liquor shops, hotels, restaurants, clubs and other establishments selling or serving liquor shall be permitted to sell/ serve liquor to anyone whosoever, on the aforesaid days.
  7. Non-proprietary clubs, star hotels, restaurants etc. and hotels functioning under different categories of licenses for possession and supply of liquor, shall not be permitted to serve liquor on these days.
  8. The storage of liquor by individuals shall be curtailed during the above period and the restrictions provided in the excise law on the storage of liquor in unlicensed premises shall be vigorously enforced.

ddnews.gov.in

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ECI mandates all political Parties to get pre-certification of all political advertisements on electronic media

ECI mandates all political Parties to get pre-certification of all political advertisements on electronic media

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The Election Commission of India (ECI) has declared the program of the General Election to Legislative Assemblies in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and bye-elections in 6 states recently where in the rules have been spelt out for the political parties and independent contestants.

ECI has made a requirement of all registered political party and any group of organization/ association or any contesting candidate/individual seeking to be pre-certified by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) on all political advertisements in the electronic media (e.g. TV, Radio, AV displays at public places, e-papers, bulk SMS/ voice messages) and social media.

Any individual or competing candidates may seek advertisement certification at District MCMC. A certification of such advertisements can be sought by all registered political parties with their respective head offices located in a State/UT by the State Level MCMC. The applications have to be submitted in accordance with the given timelines. The State level too constitutes an Appellate Committee headed by the CEO to listen to the appeals against the decision of District/State MCMC.

Without the prior certification of the MCMC, political parties/ candidates must not release any political adverts on internet based media/ websites such as social media websites.

MCMCs will also maintain a high alert on possible incidents of paid news in the media and act accordingly.

Moreover, the candidates must provide the information regarding their original social media profiles in their affidavit during nomination.

Section 77(1) of Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the guidelines of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India states that political parties are also required to present a statement of expenditure incurred on campaigning using internet including social media websites to the ECI within 75 days after completion of assembly elections.

This spending among other things shall involve payment to internet companies and websites to carry adverts and campaign related spending on content development and operational spending incurred to maintain their social media accounts.

To this effect, the representatives of the Social Media Platforms (SMPs), the CEOs, State Police Nodal Officers and state IT Nodal Officers of all poll-bound States/UT were held to sensitise them of the above provisions and to validate and ensure a timely action against reported cases of misinformation, disinformation and fake-news during elections on March 19, 2026.

 

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Karnataka Elections 2018: EC extends polling time till 6 PM on May 12

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The Election Commission has extended the hours of poll in the Karnataka elections citing the sub-section (2) of section 15 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The polling time earlier mentioned under Section 56 of the said Act notified hours of poll to begin from 7.00 am and to complete by 5.00 pm as the hours of poll during which the poll shall be taken in all the assembly constituencies of the state.

Keeping in view the changed prospects for BJP and Congress owing to the emergence of a third player JD(S), the political parties with cadre strength will benefit from the extension of one hour in the evening.

Under the new notification, elections to Karnataka Legislative assembly will be held on May 12 from 7.00 A.M. in the morning to 6.00 P.M. in the evening.

"The Commission considers that in view of the extreme heat in the State of Karnataka at present and also due to the introduction of VVPAT, it is necessary to extend the hours of poll to facilitate all the voters to cast their votes even in the late hours," said a statement issued by EC.

Going beyond administrative reasons, the extension of one hour of polling time usually benefits the major parties which have huge number of cadre members who engage in electioneering and facilitating the polling for their party till 5 PM. After the poll, most of them have either no time or forget to vote.

Since the poll is on Saturday, usually a weekend holiday, it should not make much difference for the ordinary voter. It remains to be seen whether this step helps BJP or Congress.