EC’s CVIGIL App gets over 1K complaints.

• The Election Commission’s CVIGIL App has emerged as a force multiplier and a powerful tool to promptly report unlawful campaigning activities and violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC), officials said.
• A total of over 1,000 cases were reported from Himachal Pradesh in which over 800 cases were found correct and action was taken. Over 580 cases reported were for posters and banners without permission and 185 cases were for money distribution.

What is CVIGIL App?

• “CVIGIL” is a user-friendly and easy to operate Android application. It will be operational only where elections are announced. However, the beta version of the app will be made available for the public and election staff to download so that they can acquaint themselves with its features and also try sending dummy data.
• “cVIGIL” will allow anyone in the election-bound state to report violations of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) that comes into effect from the date of announcement of elections and goes on till a day after the polls.
• By using this app, citizens can immediately report on incidents of misconduct within minutes of having witnessed them and without having to rush to the office of the returning officer to lodge a complaint.
• The vigilant citizen has to click a picture or record a video of upto two minutes’ duration of the scene of violations of the model code. The photo or video is to be uploaded on the app. The automated location mapping will be done by the app using the Geographic Information System. After its successful submission through the app, the vigilant citizen gets a Unique ID to track and receive the follow up updates on her or his mobile. A citizen can report many incidents in this manner and will get a unique id for each report for follow up updates.
• The identity of the complainant will be kept confidential.