Meerut: The Election Commission of India on Monday, November 2, reviewed preparations for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections across 18 districts in four western divisions and directed senior officials to strengthen voter lists, security arrangements and personnel training to ensure free, fair and peaceful polling, according to a statement issued by the state Chief Electoral Officer's office.

Source: UP CEO office statement via Orange News 9

The review meeting, held at Urja Bhawan in Meerut, was chaired by Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Manish Garg in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa and other senior Commission officials. The districts covered were Meerut, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Amroha, Bijnor, Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Aligarh, Etah, Hathras and Kasganj — together accounting for about 110 Assembly seats, Daily Kiran reported.

Source: Daily Kiran

Discussions covered voter registration, polling-station facilities, the availability and management of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and VVPATs, training of election personnel and law-and-order arrangements. Garg directed officials to verify the electoral rolls for absent, shifted, duplicate and deceased (ASDD) voters, ensure minimum assured facilities at polling stations, carry out vulnerability mapping of sensitive locations, deploy flying and static surveillance teams, and arrange webcasting at all polling stations, Urban Acres reported.

Source: Urban Acres

Rinwa instructed district election officers to re-examine rejected Form 6 applications so that no eligible citizen is left out, and to recheck all Forms 6, 7 and 8 processed by computer assistants after the conclusion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the rolls. He also directed special enrolment drives in Classes 11 and 12 and in degree colleges so that young people becoming eligible to vote for the first time are brought onto the rolls, and said voter information slips must reach electors at least five days before polling, with the distribution recorded in booth-level officers' registers.

In a related direction, the CEO's office ordered all district election officers to immediately deactivate the ECINET login IDs of computer assistants at voter registration centres across the state, following a complaint from Pilibhit district about misuse of login IDs given to centre operators; the firm concerned was directed to terminate the service of the outsourced computer assistant involved in the Pilibhit case, NewKerala reported.

Source: NewKerala

Garg also directed strict surveillance against the illegal movement and distribution of liquor, including checks at the source and exit points of distilleries. The term of the current 18th Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly runs until May 22, 2027, and Assembly elections are due in the state early next year; first-level checks of EVMs and VVPATs by engineers of Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited are part of the ongoing preparations, PTI reported.