The box containing the poll material for the July 18 presidential election has reached the Jharkhand capital, state government officials said on Thursday.
The steel box with a wooden cover was brought by the authorized officers on a flight from Delhi under the name of ‘Mr. Ballot Box’ and has been kept in the sanitized and sealed strongroom of Jharkhand Assembly, they said.
“Special arrangements were made in the aircraft for the transportation of election materials, for which a special seat was booked in the aircraft in the name of ‘Mr. Ballot Box”,’ a statement from the state government said.
The materials received from the Election Commission in the steel box include ballot boxes and papers, authenticated list of members of the electoral college for the presidential election, badges for the chief electoral officer, assistant returning officers, authorized polling representatives of contesting candidates (three for each), violet inked pen for marking votes, rubber stamps for presiding officer and posters on instructions and how to use the pen.
All the materials were safely brought to Birsa Airport here by the authorized officials of the state from New Delhi amidst a complete security arrangement. “The election materials were brought to the strong room located in the Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha and the said materials have been stored amidst 24×7 security arrangements,” the statement said.
The process was video graphed, it said.
An assistant returning officer from the state and one officer from the office of the state chief electoral officer went to Nirvachan Sadan, the EC headquarters in New Delhi, on Wednesday to collect the poll material. They were mandated to return to the state capital the same day.
After the polling is over, the polled and sealed ballot boxes and other election material have to be transported back to the office of the Rajya Sabha secretary general, who is the returning officer, by the next available flight.
Voting is held in Parliament House and state legislative assemblies and elected MPs and MLAs are entitled to vote in the presidential poll but not the MLCs.
