New Delhi, March 10: With the Election Commission on Sunday announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls, to be conducted in Seven Phases from April 11 to May 19, certain guidelines for the electorates and the voters have been issued too. Also, along with the use of VVPATs and video recording by the EC during polls, the elections conducting body have advised voters to use cVigil (Vigilant Citizen) mobile app to report about a poll code violation by any candidate or political party.

According to the information disseminated by the Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora at Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital on Sunday, this would be the first time that voters will have the power in their hands to oversee the smooth conduction of Lok Sabha Elections. Earlier, the EC had launched the app – cVigil mobile app – during the Assembly Elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana in November 2018. Model Code of Conduct Comes Into Force Ahead of Lok Sabha Elections 2019: What is MCC or Aachar Sanhita? Why It's Needed & How is it Enforced? All You Need to Know. 

What is cVigil App?

Launched by the Election Commission in July in 2018, cVigil mobile app is available on Android. This app empowers the voters to report violations of Model Code of Conduct that comes into effect from the date of announcement of elections and goes on till a day after the polls. Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Constituency-Wise Schedule: Check The Voting Dates of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata & Other Cities. 

The voter can click a picture or record a video of up to two minutes’ duration of the scene of violations of the model code and upload on the app. Soon after the document is uploaded on the app, automated location mapping is done based on Geographic Information System. With the complaint in place, the vigilant citizen gets a Unique ID to track and receive the follow-up updates on her or his mobile. Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Schedule: Voting In 7 Phases From April 11 to May 19, Counting And Results On May 23; Check All Dates For General Elections. 

To ensure the safety of the complaint/s, the identity is kept confidential. If the sent information is found correct, the information is sent to the National Grievance Portal of the Election Commission of India for further action and the complainant is informed about the action taken within a hundred minutes.  Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Schedule: Voting In 7 Phases From April 11 to May 19, Counting And Results On May 23; Check All Dates For General Elections. 

Other Applications Besides cVigil:

The EC also informed that along with cVigil app, a voter could also register their complaint through a toll-free helpline number – 1950. With Suvidha app, the poll conducting body had allowed application party’s representatives, candidates and election agents to apply for various permission for election purpose. Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Dates: Social Media Campaigning Part of Model Code of Conduct, Says ECI; Check Guidelines. 

However, this would be the first time that EC has formed a Media Certificate and Monitory Committee to check on paid news broadcast on television. Also, for the first time, the EC has asked the candidates to furnish their details of social media account to the ECI. Accordingly, the EC has instructed candidates to stop their campaign 48 hours ahead of polling to maintain the campaign silence and set certain social media usage norms for Lok Sabha candidates.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 10, 2019 08:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).