Photo Source: Babushahi Bureau
Punjab polling officials gear up for Ludhiana bye-election with intensive training
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, June 11, 2025:In a concerted effort to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections, comprehensive training sessions were conducted for polling and presiding officers ahead of the upcoming bye-election in the Ludhiana (West) Assembly constituency.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Punjab, Sibin C informed that the first round of training for polling personnel assigned to 194 polling stations for the bye-election on June 19, 2025 (064-Ludhiana West) was successfully conducted on June 4, 2025, at the Auditorium of Khalsa College for Women.
A total of 1,552 polling officials, including presiding officers, participated in the day-long sessions, which were organized in two shifts—the morning session at 9:00 AM and the afternoon session at 2:00 PM—to allow greater interaction and address any doubts.
As part of the Election Commission of India's directive, hands-on training with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units was an integral component of the programme.During a mock voting drill, each of the 388 Presiding Officers cast at least 100 test votes for dummy candidates on individual EVMs.
The drill concluded with Presiding Officers manually tallying the vote count against the Control Unit’s electronic result and VVPAT slips. CEO Sibin C confirmed that no discrepancies were found, reaffirming the accuracy and reliability of the EVM-VVPAT system.
Polling officials expressed satisfaction and confidence in the training, praising the Election Commission for facilitating a practical and interactive session that strengthened their preparedness for election day responsibilities.
The second round of training is expected to be held shortly to reinforce technical understanding and ensure smooth execution of the upcoming poll process.