The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Saturday that more than 4.24 lakh complaints were received through its cVigil app from the start of the Lok Sabha election announcement up until May 15th.
The ECI highlighted that it has successfully disposed of 99.9% of these cases. “Since the announcement of the General Elections 2024, over 4.24 lakh complaints have been received through this app as of May 15th. Out of these, 4,23,908 complaints have been resolved, with only 409 cases still under process. Nearly 89% of complaints were resolved within a 100-minute timeline,” the ECI stated in a communiqué.
The poll panel emphasized that the cVigil app has become a highly effective tool for citizens to flag election code violations during the Lok Sabha polls. “Citizens have used this app to report electoral malpractices, such as the use of loudspeakers beyond prescribed time or noise levels, campaigning during ban periods, placing banners or posters without permission, deploying vehicles beyond permitted limits, property defacement, displaying firearms/intimidation, and checking inducements,” the ECI said.
During the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar urged citizens to stay vigilant and use the app to report Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violations and the distribution of any kind of inducements to voters.
The cVigil app is user-friendly and easy to operate, connecting vigilant citizens with the District Control Room, Returning Officer, and Flying Squad Teams. By using this app, citizens can promptly report incidents of political misconduct within minutes without having to visit the office of the returning officer.
The app automatically enables a geo-tagging feature as soon as the user switches on their camera in the cVigil app to report a violation. To prevent misuse, the cVigil app incorporates several safeguards, including geographical restrictions, time constraints on reporting, and mechanisms for filtering out duplicate or frivolous complaints.
