Chandigarh: A delegation of Senior Deputy Election Commissioners, Director Generals and other senior officials of the Election Commission of India (ECI) held a review meeting in Chandigarh on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, with the Chief Electoral Officer of Punjab, the state police nodal officer and representatives of various central and state enforcement agencies to assess preparedness for the upcoming Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections, IANS reported via New Kerala. Nation Press also listed the ECI review of Punjab election preparedness among its Chandigarh developments of the day.

Source: New Kerala (IANS)

The same day, a First Level Checking (FLC) workshop was held to train officials and personnel in the technical and administrative procedures for checking Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units. During the workshop, the CEO, Punjab, said the FLC process across districts would commence on November 12 and would be carried out with complete transparency in accordance with ECI guidelines, under strict daily monitoring by the respective District Election Officers.

Expert engineers from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) conducted practical demonstrations and hands-on training sessions at the workshop, which also included an evaluation exercise and a session to address queries. District Election Officers, Additional District Election Officers, FLC Nodal Officers, Master Trainers, BEL experts and other officials concerned with the process attended, the report said, with special emphasis placed on adhering to established protocols and on transparency, accuracy and caution throughout the FLC process.

Following the workshop, a review meeting was held with enforcement agencies to assess their preparedness and coordination for the upcoming elections. The meeting focused on ensuring the active involvement of all enforcement agencies to facilitate the smooth, fair and transparent conduct of the electoral process, according to the report.

Source: Hi India (IANS)

The review and the November 12 start for district-level machine checking are preparatory steps ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections. The ECI has not announced the election schedule in these reports; the schedule announcement remains a separate, later step. Awaaz Punjab will report the schedule, candidates and other election developments as they are officially announced.