The Telangana State Election Commission (TSEC) has decided to drop its plan to introduce e-voting in the upcoming Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections. The TSEC found itself unable to implement e-voting without amending the GHMC Act, State Election Commissioner C. Parthasarathi told MediaNama. Additionally, the state's IT department asked TSEC for more time to deliver the technology and there wasn't enough time, he said. The IT department is quite confident about delivering the a working solution, he added. The development was first reported by the Deccan Chronicle. The GHMC elections will be held on December 1, with counting on December 4, according to the schedule announced by the TSEC on Tuesday. More than 74 lakh voters are eligible to vote across GHMC's 150 wards. Earlier this month, the TSEC had announced that e-voting would allow senior citizens, polling officials, and COVID-19 patients to vote remotely using their mobile phones. If it had been implemented, it would have been a first in the country, making it another distinction for the TSEC, which had made history by being the first election body in India to deploy facial recognition in the Kompally urban local body elections in January this year. 'GHMC Act has to be amended' Parthasarathi said that TSEC cannot implement e-voting without a significant amendment of the GHMC Act. He pointed out that the Assembly session had been concluded last month, and said the government isn't keen to amend the Act in the form of an ordinance. "E-voting is an entirely…
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