The latest app, expected to come out before April 17, will help voters avoid long queues, find nearest polling booth and information on assembly contestants.
Bangalore, April 11, 2018: If the idea of waiting in unending queues at polling booths under the sweltering heat of the sun seems daunting to you, the State Election Commission is coming to your rescue.
An application tentatively called Chunavana App aimed at solving various issues that voters face during polling day, is set to be released before April 17, 2018.
“Urban population can use the app to find out the queue status facility which will update them with the number of people in the queue so that they can plan their visit to the polling station accordingly. Voters can use this app to search for their polling station by entering their Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number,” said Surya Sen A. V. joint chief electoral officer.
The app will also inform details of the candidates who are contesting in their assembly constituency like their name, age, eligibility criteria and educational qualification, what party they belong to and what party symbol they have.
The app can also be used to book a wheel chair for persons with disabilities. The queue monitoring will be updated every 10 min manually by the volunteers in polling stations. Its navigation feature will help voters navigate to polling station with the help of Google Maps, once they enter the EPIC number.
In case of emergency, the app can show the nearest police station and health center,
A Geographic Information System database portal will show previous statistics of elections on a map of Karnataka. With the statistics of elections since 1950s, this feature would help voters get an idea of changes in elections over the years.
Apart from this app aimed at the citizens, another app will be launched for the officials. It will be used to capture the details of the polling stations and facilities like drinking water, mobile network connectivity ramps for wheelchairs, the photos and location of polling stations.
This app is the latest in a series of apps that were launched by the EC this year ahead of the May 12 Karnataka assembly elections. Launched earlier this month, Election Officers’ Directory, Model Code of Conduct Reporting and Election Quiz that allowed the voters to find the contact numbers of the poll officers, report any violations of code of conduct and get information on the polls.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) also came out with four Android apps that cover general information, directory, navigation and complaints on code of conduct.
A similar application was launched by the State Election Commission of Maharashtra called “True Voter” where voters can find the nearest polling booth.
For now the app is only for Google Play store and not for iOS.
