The Central Electoral Commission is said to have told officials involved in polling operations in four states and one federal territory that “the Commission has zero tolerance for any form of violence, intimidation or inducement against any elector”. A EC official said the series of transfers in the West Bank, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam were aimed at weeding out elements in the administration and police that had become weak. “Violence and intimidation have always been a hallmark of polling in a state like Western Australia. This cycle must stop,” the official said, adding that the deployment of 1,111 observers was a step in that direction.
