Voters on election responsibility who can’t go to their domestic constituency can also additionally must workout their franchise at Voter Facilitation Centres, and now no longer via postal ballot , to “minimise capability misuse of postal ballot facility for free, honest and obvious elections”, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has proposed, in line with human beings acquainted with the matter.
In their advice to the ministry of law & justice final week, leader election commissioner Rajiv Kumar and election commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey additionally stated the above concept would require an change in Rule 18 of Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, the human beings stated above stated.
Rule 18 offers with human beings entitled to vote through put up, which incorporates carrier citizens, citizens on election responsibility and electors subjected to preventive detention.
Nearly one million polling stations are installation throughout the us of a throughout the countrywide elections, with nearly 10 million citizens on election responsibility. Such citizens encompass police personnel, polling officers and presiding officials amongst others who’re worried withinside the election process.
As in keeping with ECI’s general policy, citizens on election responsibility are deployed at a constituency aside from their domestic constituency to manipulate and supervise the polling process. Owing to this arrangement, such citizens are not able to go to their domestic constituency and thus, allowed to vote through put up.
“It has been determined in preceding elections that citizens on election responsibility who’re furnished postal ballot do now no longer solid their vote at Voter Facilitation Centres however take their postal ballot with them, claiming they’ve time to solid postal ballot until eight am of the counting day, as in keeping with Section 60 of Representation of the People Act, 1951 study with Rule 18 of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961,” one of the human beings stated above stated on circumstance of anonymity.
As in keeping with contemporary rules, the returning officials, on the time of training, can also additionally problem postal ballots and additionally installation facilitation centres for the ones on ballot responsibility to allow them to solid their votes earlier than they’re dispatched for the allocated polling stations.
“The facilitation centre is prepared with all important preparations for making sure mystery and obvious vote casting in presence of applicants or their representatives,” the individual stated above stated.
However, citizens on election responsibility additionally have the choice to ship their postal ballot via “put up to the returning officer which will attain the returning officer earlier than the hour constant for the graduation of counting i.e, 8am of the counting day,” the individual added.
Many such citizens preserve postal ballots at their houses for a long term after appearing ballot responsibility, as elections are commonly held in staggered way to be able to manipulate logistics and necessities for forces, the individual stated.
Data suggests that in the meeting elections in states like Goa, Kerala and Manipur withinside the final years, “over 50% of postal ballots have been acquired through put up from the election responsibility staff”.
“In Uttarakhand (that went to the polls in advance this year), now no longer even a unmarried postal ballot become solid on the facilitation centre,” the individual stated.
The ECI’s concept would “minimise the capability misuse of retaining ballot paper through the citizens on election responsibility for a long term with them, that’s extraordinarily prone to undue influence, threats, bribery and different unethical approach through applicants or political parties”, the individual added.