Election code of conduct violation: cVIGIL receives over 1 lakh complaints in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], April 7 : The Election Commission of India (ECI) received 1,07,202 complaints through its cVIGIL mobile application regarding the violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) between March 16 to April 7 in Kerala.
The Kerala Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kaul said that action was taken on 1,05,356 complaints which was found to be valid, while action is in progress for 183 complaints.
These figures account for the period from March 16 to April 7, since the election notification was issued. The majority of complaints received via cVIGIL were related to unauthorised posters, banners, boards, posters without mandatory information, defacement of properties, unauthorised cash transactions, unauthorised use of vehicles, distribution of liquor, distribution of gifts, display of weapons, hate speeches, etc.
Specifically, 93,540 complaints were related to unauthorised posters and banners, and 5,908 complaints were related to defacement of properties.
There were also 2,150 complaints regarding posters without mandatory information, and 177 complaints about unauthorised vehicle usage. Other types of complaints included cash distribution (29), liquor distribution (32), distribution of gifts (24), display of weapons (110), hate speeches (19), and usage of loudspeakers beyond the permitted time (10).
The Chief Electoral Officer stated that any type of complaint related to election code violations could be sent immediately via the cVIGIL application, and prompt action would be taken on the complaints sent through the app.
"Complaints accompanied by photos or videos not exceeding two minutes, along with a brief note, would be acted upon within 100 minutes," he said.
The cVIGIL application can be downloaded from Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Complaints related to carrying weapons, intimidation, distribution of gifts, distribution of liquor, distribution of money, paid news, unauthorised posters, unauthorised banners, defacement of properties, hate speeches and messages, transporting voters on the day of voting, and use of loudspeakers beyond the permitted time without authorization can all be reported via cVIGIL.
Complaints sent through cVIGIL are received at the district control rooms operated by the district collectorates. The local monitoring squads will be immediately informed about the complaints received.
An investigation will be conducted on the complaint, and the field squad will relay the information to the district centre within 30 minutes.
Based on this, immediate action will be taken at the district level on the relevant issues, while other matters will be forwarded to the Chief Electoral Office.
The complainant will be promptly informed about the action taken. There is also a system in place for officials to understand the current status of each complaint.
The use of the Geographic Information System (GIS) will help in identifying the location of the violation. Upon uploading a complaint, a unique ID will be generated, which allows the follow-up of the complaint directly through the mobile.
The complainant's details will be kept confidential. Only pictures taken directly at the scene of the violation can be sent via the app; pictures obtained from others cannot be sent. This helps in avoiding false complaints.
The pictures can be taken by the phone's camera by the owner only. This is to prevent the circulation of pictures received through WhatsApp and other means, without knowing their actual context.