New Delhi, Oct 10 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) has commenced a comprehensive online training and assessment programme for Returning Officers (ROs) and Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) appointed for the upcoming Bihar Legislative Assembly elections and bye-elections, it said on Friday.

The sessions, held on October 9 and 10, 2025, included a structured doubt-clearing module focused on the nomination process, ensuring that all officers are well-versed with procedural guidelines ahead of the crucial electoral exercise.

According to the ECI, 243 Returning Officers and 1,418 Assistant Returning Officers participated in the virtual training.

Under Section 21 read with Section 24 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the ECI designates ROs for every constituency to supervise the electoral process in accordance with legal provisions.

“The ROs and AROs are subject to the control, superintendence and discipline of the Commission during the prescribed period,” the poll panel said in its press note.

“The online assessment and doubt-clearing sessions will subsequently cover all phases of the conduct of elections, including nomination process, qualification and disqualification, Model Code of Conduct (MCC), withdrawal of candidature, symbol allotment, poll-day arrangements and counting,’ it said.

Similarly, National Level Master Trainers will address all queries raised by election officers to ensure absolute clarity in the enforcement of rules and smooth poll conduct.

In a significant digital initiative, the Commission also conducted a separate briefing for the Chief Electoral Officer, District Election Officers and ROs on the Presiding Officer Module of the ECINet system.

“ECI also conducted an online briefing session for the CEO, all DEOs and ROs on the Presiding Officer module of ECINET, which is under progressive implementation,” it said.

“Through this module, the Presiding Officers will upload voter turnout data on the ECINet App on a two-hourly basis and at the close of polls. The data will be automatically compiled at the RO level so that near real-time approximate voting trends are available,” it added.

The poll panel will also organise a trial run of the Presiding Officers application at all Polling Stations before the poll.

The sessions are in addition to the training sessions being organised by the concerned Chief Electoral Officers in their respective States/UTs.

–IANS

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