The Election Commission will soon ask the government to modify the rules to make e-filing of nomination for contesting elections mandatory. Election Commissioner H.S. Brahma said in Ranchi that e-filing in a web-based form, would be in addition to filing the nomination in paper form.

Candidates for the Lok Sabha elections would be able to e-file their nominations and affidavits in a move aimed at bringing about faster dissemination of information about them regarding their criminal, financial, educational and other background details. A press release of the 10th Annual Conference on Electoral and Political Reforms said that Mr. Brahma also launched a citizen reporting tool, Election Watch Reporter, an android based application developed by the National Election Watch.

He recommended it to be used by the election commission in the polls to keep a check on malpractices like bribing of voters and excessive spending by candidates. The tool will enable citizens to capture photographic evidence, with precise GPS location and time of any wrong doing in and around elections and report it instantaneously to the nearest election commission observers.

The conference was organised by National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms.