With the rising number of Covid-19 cases, the Election Commission (EC) restricted 'Kottikalasam', the grand finale of the public campaigning and bike rallies for the Kerala Assembly polls. The police will take strict action against those violating the ban.
The Election Commission even stressed that political parties too will have to face strict action if they violate the restriction. Also, the EC restricted taking children for the election campaign.
As per the directive, bike rallies too were restricted from Saturday to Tuesday. 72 hours before the polling day, the restriction comes into effect. More importantly, the directive has officially banned opinion surveys and exit polls that predict the election results till April 29, 7:30 pm.
Meanwhile, in a press release, the Election Commission said that they will initiate stern action on double votes and those engaging in it will be considered a criminal offense. Also, it said that the list of those identified as double voters will be handed over to the Returning Officer.
It is the responsibility of the RO and Deputy Returning Officer to restrict double voting in each district. They should alert the presiding officer if they identify any double voting.
According to the EC directive, the officials will collect the signature and fingerprint of the voters having double votes.
