Tamil Nadu Election Commission Agrees To Video Record Polling Booths During Local Body Polls

The local body elections would take place in two phases in rural areas of nine districts on October 6 and 9 

Representation Picture

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu state election commission has agreed to video record as many polling booths as possible during the rural local body elections in nine districts. The submission was made by the commission before the Madras High Court on Friday. 

According to a report in IANS, the submission was recorded by the first bench of the court comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice PD Audikesavalu while hearing a writ petition filed by AIADMK seeking elaborate security measures during the local body elections. The local body elections would take place in two phases in rural areas of nine districts on October 6 and 9. 

Advocate Vijay Narayan who is representing the petitioner, argued that the commission had decided to record only 20% of the booths by installing CCTV cameras and that too only crucial events. He argued that the commission should 100% record the elections and it would not be a difficult task with the available technology, according to the report. 

The report said that the court also recorded Advocate General S Shanmugasundaram’s argument that observers would be appointed at the block level. The Petitioner further argued that observers should be appointed at the block level instead of district level as it might not be possible for them to cover all polling booths in a district, the report added. 

The report further said that the commission also agreed to fulfil another request made by the AIADMK of installing CCTV cameras both inside and outside the strong rooms where ballot boxes would be stored.