Karwar: Usually voters face difficulty in finding their polling station in the elections. Many times, they are forced to stand in long queues to cast their votes and to avoid this, many voters refrain from exercising their franchise. To address such issues and to help voters to get complete information about elections, the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Application Centre (KSRSAC) has developed an Android mobile application (app) called ‘Chunavana’.

This app was launched the previous year itself but the Election Commission is all set to use this in a full-fledged manner in the coming Lok Sabha elections. This year, the app is being used with some improvisations as well.

How useful?

‘Chunavana’, the polling booth app can be freely downloaded by voters from the Google Play Store on Android mobile phones. The app has the Geographic Information System (GIS) view of the entire State along with maps of all the polling booths and Lok Sabha constituencies. This will help the voters to trace their polling booth and its complete address. The voters will be guided to the polling station from their current location and this service can be availed by entering the EPIC details on the app. Voters can also see the queue status at the polling station. This will help voters to avoid waiting in front of the booth for a longer time.

This apart, the citizens can get the details of the election schedule and the candidates contesting from their constituency so that they can make the right decision while electing them. They can know the details of the election officials up to the level of the Booth Level Officer.

Also, physically challenged voters and senior citizens can book a wheelchair to avail the facility at the polling station through the app with EPIC number, mobile number and an OTP generated on the device and email address. The app provides information to voters on the nearest police station and health centre which will come to their rescue in times of emergencies.

Helpful during other times

The ‘Chunavana’ app can not only be used during the time of elections but also during the time of addition of names into the electoral roll for new voters and during the time of distress to reach the nearest police stations and the health centers. The telephone numbers of the officials will help the citizen to ensure transparent and effective electioneering and model code of conduct, officers said.

Ultimately, the main objective of the app is to improve the percentage of voting and motivate voters to participate in the democratic process.