“No voter to be left behind”

3.1 Structure of Election Expenditure Monitoring Mechanism:

3. 1. 1 Expenditure Observers (EO):

The Expenditure Observers shall be appointed by the Commission for

specified constituencies to observe the election expenses by the candidates.
There shall be at least one Expenditure Observer for each district, but each
Expenditure Observer ordinarily shall not have more than five Assembly
Constituencies under his observation.

3.1.2 Assistant Expenditure Observers (AEO):

Assistant Expenditure Observers (AEO) shall be appointed for each

constituency on date of notification of election by the DEO and if change is
suggested by the Expenditure Observer, the same shall be carried out. The
AEO shall be of the rank of Group B Officer or equivalent in other Central
Government Services. If the officers of Income Tax Dept. are engaged by
the Investigation Directorate for the seizure of cash and goods, then such
names should not be requisitioned for the AEO’s duty. If there is absence
of such officers in the district then officers of the State Treasury or Finance
Department may be nominated. He should preferably be a local officer,
posted within the same district or nearby but whose work place and
home town should not be in the same Constituency. He will be provided
with a vehicle, one personal security and a local SIM card, office space in the
office premises of the RO, as he will be coordinating with all the teams, nodal
officers and the Expenditure Observer. If the HQ of the AEO is different
from the constituency, he shall be provided with lodging and boarding
in the constituency. He shall claim the Daily allowance as admissible to him
and shall be paid by DEO/RO

3.1.3 Video Surveillance Teams (VST):

One or more Video Surveillance Teams shall be deployed for each Assembly
Constituency/ Segment consisting of minimum one official and one
videographer. If necessary, more number of teams may be deployed on the
recommendation of Expenditure Observer. Assistant Expenditure observer
shall be personally supervising videography of sensitive events and big
public rallies in the constituency. If more than one public rally is organized
on the same day, more than one video teams will be deployed to record the
procession and the rally.

3.1.4 Video Viewing Team (VVT):

There shall be a Video Viewing Team for each Assembly Constituency/

Segment with one officer and two clerks.