Election Commission of India

Objective :Computerized tracking of the election process with the

critically important objective of being able to take timely action in real time.

It is an ‘Event based management system’ – from the time of dispatch till the time of deposition of election material after return of parties.

Polling parties are distributed in remote locations, so the challenge is to get the information timely

Events can be of predetermined nature ( e.g. Polling party dispatched, arrived etc.) or of non-predetermined nature (e.g. Incidents of violence). Both types of events need to trigger action on getting recorded into the system.

Why SMS ?SMS is a very easy and convenient technology that

can be used for a wide range of applications. Although it has the widest reach of all the mobile technologies today.

Incorporates Time delay option, i.e. the recipients phone being busy does not matter to the sender of SMSs.

Automatic Automatic sending of SMSs to the persons who are not

reporting within scheduled / expected time limits. Automatic sending of SMSs to police stations, magistrates

etc. on receipt of reports of events like violence etc. from polling booths, sector officers etc.

Information from the polling stations Pre poll-

Safe arrival of polling party at polling station.

Mock poll conducted.

Information from the polling stations During poll-

Poll started.9 am Report (Male,Female,Others)count.11 am Report (Male,Female,Others)count.1 pm Report (Male,Female,Others)count.3 pm Report (Male,Female,Others)count.5 pm Report (Male,Female,Others)count.Voters in queue at the closure of poll.

Exception reports-Poll Interrupted due to EVM Non-Functioning.Poll interruption due to Law & Order problem.Poll interruption due to other Problem.Problem resolved

Information from the polling stations After poll-

Final voter turnout.Safe arrival of polling party at Record Room.

SMS Gateway Services from NIC makes it easy to stay connected with all mobile service operators. We have a wide range of mobile communication solutions including Web SMS and SMS API Interfaces. The SMS Gateway should be reliable, fast, cost effective and covers almost all operators in the India.

Process of SMS based monitoring systemStep 1:- Mobile Registration.

RO (Returning officer)ARO (Assistant Returning officer)SO (Sector officer)PO (Presiding officer)

Step 2:- Send Events & Time based reports.Reports by Presiding Officer/Polling OfficerReports by RO/ARO/SO

(if PO does not carry mobile phone with them or Mobile Phone of PO, for some reasons beyond control, fails to send SMS)

RolesChief electoral officer

Can monitor the whole SMS poll monitoring system online. Can edit details of any polling station online if PO is getting

any problem in sending SMS.

Returning officer Mobile registration through SMS or if getting any problem

with sending SMS, CEO can do it online on behalf of RO. Will get an SMS if there exist any problem in any polling

station.

Assistant returning officer Mobile registration through SMS or if getting any problem

with sending SMS, CEO can do it online on behalf of RO. Will get an SMS if there exist any problem in any polling

station.

RolesSector officer

Mobile registration through SMS or if getting any problem with SMS, CEO can do it online on behalf of RO.

Can send SMS on behalf of any polling station if PO is getting any problem in sending SMS.

Presiding officerMobile registration through SMS or if getting

any problem with SMS, CEO can do it online on behalf of RO.

Send Event and Information bases reports through SMS.

SMS format-SMS is designed in such a format that the

message received by the system(SMS gateway) through the sender(RO/ARO/SO/PO) could be automatically interpreted and updated into the database .

Keyword –’poll’ - All SMS format will start with this keyword.

- Example:- poll <space> other part of the message.

Message to be sent on

9212357123 – This is the virtual destination number that we have purchased

from NIC to receive messages from all over India.

For RODate of Registration- P-7 daySMS syntax- poll<space>State_code<space>Dist_no<space>Ac_no<space>RO

e.g. poll S06 01 001 RO

For ARODate of Registration- P-7 daySMS syntax- poll<space>State_code<space>Dist_no<space>Ac_no<space>ARO

e.g. poll S06 01 001 ARO

SMS format- Mobile registration

For SODate of Registration- P-7 daySMS syntax- poll<space>State_code<space>Dist_no<space>Ac_no<space>SECTOR_NO <space> SO

e.g. poll S06 01 001 001 SO

For PODate of Registration- P-7 daySMS syntaxpoll<space>State_code<space>Dist_no<space>Ac_no<space>PS_NO <space>PO

e.g. poll S06 01 001 001 PO

SMS format- Mobile registration

Reports by Presiding Officer/Polling Officer

•Event Safe Arrival of Polling Party at Polling Station•Date of Registration P-2/P-1 Day•Time of Registration Immediately after reaching Polling Station•SMS syntax poll<space> SAP •Remarks SAP- Polling Party Safely Arrived at the Polling station

•Event Mock Poll and attendance of polling agents•Date of Registration P-Day•Time of Registration Immediately after conduct of mock poll and before

commencement of poll•SMS syntax poll<space> MP<space>04•Remarks MP-Mock Poll Conducted, Last 2 digits stand for no. of

Polling agents present. As per the example polling agents of 4 contesting candidates are present.

Reports by Presiding Officer/Polling Officer•Event Poll Started •Date of Registration P day•Time of Registration Latest by 7:15 am•SMS syntax poll<space>PS•Remarks PS- Poll Started

•Event Report on 2 hourly (9AM)•Date of Registration P-Day•Time of Registration 9am•SMS syntax poll<space>9AM<space>male,female,other

•Eg poll<space>9AM<space>111,98,02

Reports by Presiding Officer/Polling Officer•Event Report on 2 hourly (11AM)•Date of Registration P day•Time of Registration 11am•SMS syntax poll<space>11AM<space>male,female,other•e.g. poll<space> 11AM<space>111,98,02

•Event Report on 2 hourly (1PM)•Date of Registration P-Day•Time of Registration 1 pm•SMS syntax poll<space> 1PM<space>male,female,other•Remarks poll<space> 1PM<space>111,98,02

Reports by Presiding Officer/Polling Officer•Event Report on 2 hourly (3PM)•Date of Registration P day•Time of Registration 3pm•SMS syntax poll<space> 3PM<space>male,female,othere.g. poll<space> 3PM<space>111,98,02

•Event Report on 2 hourly(5PM)•Date of Registration P-Day•Time of Registration 5 pm•SMS syntax poll<space> 1PM<space>male,female,other•e.g. poll<space> 1PM<space>111,98,02

Reports by Presiding Officer/Polling Officer•Event Voters in queue at the closure of poll•Date of Registration P day•Time of Registration Closure of poll•SMS syntax poll<space> Q<space>10Remarks Q – Stands for Voters in queue at the schedule time for end of poll. 3 digits stand(s) for total number of voters in queue

•Event Final Voter Turnout•Date of Registration P-Day•Time of Registration After end of Poll •SMS syntax poll<space> VT<space>male,female,other e.g. poll<space> VT<space>454,381,002

Reports by Presiding Officer/Polling Officer•Event Safe arrival of Polling Party at RC after end of Poll•Date of Registration P day•Time of Registration Immediately after reaching RC•SMS syntax poll<space> SARC•Remarks SARC – Stands for Safe arrival of Polling party at RC

•Event Poll Interrupted due to EVM Non-Functioning or . apprehension of such problem•Date of Registration P-Day•Time of Registration Immediately after such type of situation•SMS syntax poll<space> PROB<space>EVMRemarks PROB- Problem, EVM- Problem of Electronic Voting . Machine.

Reports by Presiding Officer/Polling Officer•Event Poll interrupted or apprehension of poll interruption . due to Law & Order problem•Date of Registration P day•Time of Registration Immediately after such type of situation arises•SMS syntax poll<space> PROB<space>LW•Remarks PROB- Problem, LW - Law & Order Problem.

•Event Poll Interrupted or there is a chance of poll interruption . due to other Problem•Date of Registration P-Day•Time of Registration Immediately after such type of situation arises•SMS syntax poll<space> PROB<space>OTH•Remarks PROB- Problem, OTH – Other Problem

Reports by Presiding Officer/Polling Officer•Event Problem resolved•Date of Registration P day•Time of Registration Immediately after problem is solved and poll is resumed . in case •SMS syntax poll<space>PRESRemarks PRES means Problem resolved and poll resumed in case there is . interruption.

If PO failed to send SMS?

Then Returning Officer/Assistant

Returning Officer/Sector Officer can send SMS on behalf of that PO

Poll Report by Returning Officer/Assistant Returning Officer/Sector Officer

Sl. No. Event SMS syntax1 Safe Arrival of

Polling Party at Polling Station

poll<space>PS_NO<space>SAP e.g. poll<space>001<space> SAP

2 Mock Poll and attendance of polling agents

poll <space>PS_NO<space>MP<space>04 e.g. poll<space>001<space> MP<space>04

3 Poll Started poll<space>PS_NO<space>PS e.g. poll<space>001<space> PS

4 Report on 2 hourly (9AM)

poll<space>PS_NO<space>9AM<space>male,female,other e.g. poll<space>001<space>9AM<space>111,98,02

5 Report on 2 hourly (11AM)

poll<space>PS_NO<space>11AM<space>male,female,other e.g. poll<space>001<space>11AM<space>111,98,02

Sl. No. Event SMS syntax6 Report on 2

hourly (1PM) poll<space>PS_NO<space>1PM<space>male,female,other e.g. poll<space>001<space>1PM<space>111,98,02

7 Report on 2 hourly (3PM)

poll<space>PS_NO<space>3PM<space>male,female,other e.g. poll<space>001<space>3PM<space>111,98,02

8 Report on 2 hourly(5PM)

poll<space>PS_NO<space>5PM<space>male,female,other e.g. poll<space>001<space>5PM<space>111,98,02

9 Voters in queue at the closure of poll

poll<space>PS_NO<space>Q<space>voters in Queue e.g. poll<space>001<space>Q<space>10

10 Final Voter Turnout

poll<space>PS_NO<space>VT<space>male,female,other e.g. poll<space>001<space>VT<space>454,381,002

Poll Report by Returning Officer/Assistant Returning Officer/Sector Officer

Sl. No.

Event SMS syntax

11 Safe arrival of Polling Party at RC after end of Poll.

poll<space>PS_NO<space>SARC poll<space>001<space>SARC

12 Poll Interrupted due to EVM Non-Functioning or apprehension of such problem

poll<space>PROB<space>EVM<space>PS_NO poll<space>PROB<space>EVM<space>001

13 Poll interrupted or apprehension of poll interruption due to Law & Order problem

poll<space> PROB<space>LW<space>PS_NO poll<space> PROB<space>LW<space>001

14 Poll Interrupted or there is a chance of poll interruption for any other Problem

poll<space> PROB<space>OTH<space>PS_NO poll<space> PROB<space>OTH<space>001

15 Problem as mentioned in Sl. NO. 12,13,14 resolved

poll<space>PRES<space>PS_NO poll<space>PRES<space>001

If SMS is not working then there will be provision for reporting the poll information through the website

Training to Presiding officerHow to send SMS.About the keyword ’poll’.About the different types of SMS formats.When to send SMS (each SMS has to be send

on certain event or time).Where to send SMS (each SMS has to be send

on a particular no. given by ECI of CEO office)What to do if getting problem in sending SMS.Importance of sending SMS accurately and

timely.

Thanks