Elections duty
 

India goes to the polls to find a new Prime Minister on April 16th.

As a bonafide and regular Government servant and officer, I am also given special duty in the coming Elections. My duty is that of a Micro Observer, which is basically accompany the polling party (team of officers who conduct the poll at a particular polling station), and supervise proceedings from the beginning till the end.

Polling timings here are from 7 AM - 3 PM. After that I submit my report to the Central Observer (my senior), and once he okays the report, I am free to go.

I will be leaving at 6 AM on the morning of the 15th (thats tomorrow morning) together with the polling party to the polling station (which is about 30 miles from here), and returning back on the night of the 16th.

If I am late, Battle Royale II will be updated on the morning of the 17th (thats the night of the 16th for you all in the US).

In case you are wondering, I hate election duty. But I have no choice. If I dont go, I will be either indefinitely suspended or fired. Yep...its a fine and dandy job.

Thanks for the heads up, V! We'll be eagerly awaiting your return.

It sounds like a pretty prestigious thing...Very interesting :)

V for Prime Minister 2009! :p

A "Micro Observer" sounds rather boring, I hope the time passes as quickly as possible. :o

SHHH...It's "prestigious"...Dammit

:p

I mean...congratulations, V! :p

V for Prime Minister! :D

Trust me, babe. The only thing remotely "prestigious" about it is the number of police personnel I get to command, and the polling officers saluting me. Besides the identity tag which they gave me, of course.


Bleh, nothing could be worse. Politics is the least of my interests. I lost interest a long time back when the "seat" remained the same and the people sitting on it kept changing, if you see what I mean.

Exactly. Nothing to do but sit for 8 hours, watch them voters trod in to vote for their favorite candidate(s), and trod back out. Filling out a 2-page format filled with objective questions, and pray that the day gets over quickly.


Ha. Right. :rolleyes:

You should elect that actor guy, you know, the guy that killed someone.

Which one?

All politicians are actors.

All actors are not politicians.

All politicians are not killers.

Some actors are killers.

I m off for the night.

See you all in 2 days' time, with the BR II updates.

Best of luck, V!
Hope it's not too grueling.

Good luck, V. I hope you're not too bored!

But he might get promoted to macro observer. They'll give him a telescope.

In response to HF's query in the 80s Horror tourney (no idea if anyone else is interested, but here goes...)

It was more or less a punishment. Summer's onset has this area sizzling. The daytime temperatures have soared to almost 45°C, and the polling booth was situated smack right in the middle of a big, long stretch of barren land. The poll party consisted of a Presiding Officer, and 3 Election Officers. Plus we had a battalion of CPF personnel to guard the place.

Polling started at 7 AM, and between 9 AM-12 AM we had the best attendance. After 12 30, they stopped coming - either because of the searing heat, or because of lack of interest. Polling closed at 3 PM. Overall, we had a 52% turnout.

After 11 AM, it got hot. The polling booth was a primary school, which had an asbestos-tiled roof, and the whole place basically turned into a giant oven. I drank 2 full flasks of chilled water, and didnt go to pee even once. Says something about the heat?

Left the place at 5 30 PM when the truck arrived to take the polling party away. I was dropped 4 kms (around 2.5 miles) away from there to the nearest Observer station, where they picked me up at 6 30 PM to report back to the Electoral Center back in the city.

By the time I got home at 8 30 PM, I was plenty sore, hot and my legs ached like hell. I had a long cold shower and slept like a log for 12 hours straight after that. Still sore a bit, but boy am I glad its over.

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?a...in_first_phase

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=15766154

Ugh, sounds brutal! Glad you survived!

Intolerable would be the exact word. And thanks!

I think the best candidate is Meraa Luhnd

Cool. I love doing stuff like that. Helping people at the polls, phone-banking--that sort of thing.

Hope you have a blast. And be sure to give us the results.

Its not something one would volunteer at, or cheerfully do like community service.

Unless and until you are a registered Officer of the Government and your job is a permanent job, you are not eligible to be anywhere near the Election Commission office. It is a very secret, responsible and dangerous job, and the whole process is completed behind locked doors.

Till they start counting the votes to declare the results, that is.

Its results day isnt it?

The ruling party expected to steamroll the opposition or so Ive heard.

Yep, and I was on Vote Counting duty again since 6 AM today. Just returned home awhile earlier.

Congress and its allies have won again. The UPA government was expected to win anyway. Another 5 years of the coalition government. Wonderful. :rolleyes:

Lost power just now after a brief thundershower. Will be back to update the Comedians tourney.

We all know that V is a fan of polls. :D