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Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Amar Patnaik on Tuesday said that the party delegation that met with the Election Commission urged the poll panel to develop a mechanism for involving citizen groups to co-monitor the election process.
Speaking to ANI, Patnaik said that the delegation has called for an independent audit of the election process. "We also urged the poll panel to develop a mechanism for involving citizen groups to co-monitor the election process. We have called for an independent audit of the election process. We urged the tallying of VVPAT slips with EVM counts... We have not received copies of Form 17C from all booths in Odisha," Patnaik said. Notably, the Biju Janata Dal delegation went to the Election Commission on Tuesday, and demanded the Commission to conduct a periodic "process audit" of the entire election process by independent auditors or the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). In its letter to the electoral body, the BJD also demanded to make such a report public as is being done in several countries where democratic elections are held. "We had mentioned in our earlier memorandum that discrepancies indicated therein were unusual and showed that there was either a machine (EVM) error or a manual error (during data entry) or a process error or a combination of all these. Since doubts have been raised in the minds of voters about the conduct of free and fair elections on account of such discrepancies, which further get strengthened due to the non-furnishing of Forms 17C Part I & II despite repeated written requests for the last seven months, the BJD would like to suggest/demand the following in the interest of free and fair elections in the country," the party said in a statement. "The Election Commission should conduct a periodic 'process audit' of the entire election process by independent auditors or the CAG and make such a report public as is being done in several countries where democratic elections are held," it added It also demanded that a mechanism be developed for involving citizen groups in co-monitoring the election process from inception to the end. "Put in a mechanism for conducting a concurrent audit during polling at booth level as well as during counting after satisfactory completion, after which the results should be declared. Concurrent audit can be done almost in real time so that there is no undue delay in the declaration of results," the party demanded. "Tallying of all VVPAT slips with the EVM count in every booth using now-available advanced counting machines," it added further. The Biju Janata Dal Delegation also demanded that there should be a 30-day time limit for the District Election Officer to furnish copies of Forms 17C Part 1 & 2, as well as all VVPATS, to any citizen on payment of prescribed fees. (ANI)
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