Electoral Literacy - Abbreviations & Glossary
Also Read - National Voters' Day
1. BLO: Booth Level Officer– is a local Government/Semi-Government official, familiar with the local electors and is generally a voter in the same polling area. S/he assists in updating the roll using his/her local knowledge. He, under the overall supervision of Electoral Registration Officer, is responsible for field verification, collection of information/data regarding electors and preparation of electoral roll or a part of it in respect of the polling area assigned to him.
2. CEO: Chief Electoral Officer – an officer of the Government designated by the Election Commission of India for superintendence, direction and control of elections and who shall also supervise the preparation,revision and correction of electoral rolls in the State.
3.Constituency – an area whose voters elect a representative to a legislative body.
4. DEO: District Election Officer – the Election Commission of India designates the head of district administration, (the Collector, Deputy Commissioner or District Magistrate) as District Election Officer of the district concerned. Working under the directions of the Chief Electoral Officer, the District Election Officer supervises all work in the district or in the area within his jurisdiction in connection with the preparation and revision of the electoral rolls for all Parliamentary, Assembly and Council Constituencies within the district. District Election Officer is responsible for providing polling stations, the publication of the list of polling stations and for providing the polling staff at elections.
5. Election – a formal decision making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold a public office.
6. Elector – an enrolled individual who is eligible to vote in the elections.
7. Electoral Participation – the action of engaging oneself in the processes that comprise an election as a voter, election official, candidate, political party or, any other stakeholder in a democratic form of government.
8. Electoral Process – a series of steps that voters, election officials, candidates, political parties and other stakeholders engage in as a part of the electoral exercise in a democracy.
9. Electoral Roll – Ordinarily known as 'Voters' List', electoral roll is list of persons registered as electors residing in a constituency. For proper management, the electoral roll of a constituency is divided into several parts which contain details of electors of the corresponding polling areas.
10. EPIC: Electors Photo Identity Card – is issued by Electoral Registration Officer to all electors registered in the electoral roll of the Assembly Constituency under him, for establishing the identity
of the concerned elector at the time of poll.
11. ERO: Electoral Registration Officer – is the statutory authority to prepare the electoral roll of the Constituency under his charge. For the purpose of preparation and revision of electoral rolls of a constituency, the Election Commission, in consultation with the Government of the State, designates/nominates an officer of the State Government concerned, as the Electoral Registration Officer.
12. EVM: Electronic Voting Machine – is a machine used for the purpose of recording votes by electors during elections. It consists of two Units– a Control Unit and a Balloting Unit– joined by a five-meter cable. Instead of issuing a ballot paper, the Polling Officer in-charge of the Control Unit presses the Ballot Button. This enables the voter to cast his/her vote by pressing the blue button on the Balloting Unit against the candidate and symbol of his/her choice.
13. Model Code of Conduct (MCC) – is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India for conduct of political parties and candidates during elections mainly with respect to speeches, polling day, polling booths, election manifestos, processions and general conduct. The Model Code of Conduct comes into force immediately on announcement of the election schedule by the commission for the need of ensuring free and fair elections.
14. NVD: National Voters' Day – is celebrated to increase enrollment of voters, especially young voters. The day is also utilized to spread awareness among voters regarding effective participation in the electoral process.
15. NOTA: None Of The Above– is an option introduced in October 2013, displayed on all EVMs and ballot papers to enable voters who do not wish to vote for any of the candidates to exercise their right without violation of the secrecy of their decision.
16. NVSP: National Voters' Service Portal – (www.nvsp.in) is a website by the Election Commission of India which provides certain e-services relating to registration in electoral roll for citizens and election officials.
17. Panchayat – in India, the Panchayati Raj now functions as a system of governance in which Gram Panchayats are the basic units of local administration. The system has three levels: Gram Panchayat(village level), Mandal Parishad or Block Samiti or Panchayat Samiti (block level), and Zila Parishad (district level).
18. PwDs:Persons with Disability – group of electors that suffer from one physical disability or another and require special facilitation during elections.
19. Suffrage – the right to vote in political elections.
20. Universal Adult Franchise – the right to vote, given to all adult citizens without the discrimination of caste, class, colour, religion or gender.
21.Vote Registration–the action and processes (as mandated by the Election Commission of India) involved in enrolling an eligible individual as a recognized voter.
22. VVPAT: Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail – VVPAT machines have been designed to allow voters to verify that the vote polled by voter goes to the correct candidate. After casting a vote/pressing blue button on Ballot Unit of EVM, the VVPAT prints a slip which will contain serial number, name and symbol of the chosen candidate. This machine is placed in a glass case in a way that only the voter can see it. The slip is displayed to the voter for seven seconds and after that will be cut and dropped in the sealed box. The machines can be accessed by the election officials only.
