EC app reported 956 complaints from Delhi of poll code violation

People in Delhi using the 'cVigil' App of the Election Commission, were initially sent a lot of frivolous pictures, mostly selfies and images of flowers and parks, which had nothing to do with poll code violations, officials said on Tuesday. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Delhi Ranbir Singh had urged city residents to use the app to report any cases where they felt the model code of conduct was being violated, through illegal hoardings, hate speeches or other ways.

According to the CEO Office, till April, 956 complaints have been received from people through the 'cVigil' app by the office of CEO and over 72 per cent of those were found to be correct. "When he promoted the use of the app, in initial days, people were sending mostly selfies, photos of flowers, the image of smoke billowing out of a car, parks, fans, and other frivolous things, which had nothing to do with poll code violations," a senior official told PTI.

The Election Commission last year had launched an Android-based app - 'cVigil', using which a person can send to it geo-tagged videos and photos of illegal money being distributed or a hate speech being made during polls. He said, such entries comprised about "90 per cent of the 'complaints' sent through this app in initial days, adding, "now the majority of the complaints are genuine".

Of the total complaints, over 70 per cent have been found to be correct and have been disposed of while the rest are being looked into, officials said. The Lok Sabha polls, conducted in seven phases, will begin on April 11 and continue till May 19. Delhi will vote on May 12 and the overall results will be declared on May 23.

There are over 1.41 crore voters on Delhi's electoral roll. Out of the total electorate size of 1,41,28,795, as many as 77,76,415 are male and 63,51,698 female, while 682 belong to the third gender.

(With inputs from agencies.)