Consider the appropriate requests of voters on election duty, HC tells ECI

Taking seriously the complaints of many government officials of election duty not taking their postal votes properly due to lack of time and other issues, the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure that The proper request to use their own franchise effectively was present as best as possible. The commission was also ordered to try to ensure that more than 90% of the voters cast their votes through postal ballots.

Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamurthy issued directions while disposing of a PIL filed by the Tamil Nadu High-Higher Secondary Graduate Teachers Association. V. Senior Advocate R. with Arun’s assistance. Viduthalai said, many officials, belonging to constituencies other than the one they reside in, do not vote because postal letters were given to them only during the silent period (48 hours before the actual polling day).

Some voting officers find it difficult to get their postal votes by gazetted officers and so they submit invalid votes without verification, he said. In order to correct such discrepancies, which lead to several thousand votes being lost during every election and to ensure that all officials get to vote properly, he insisted that he be given only during the first training session Postal ballots should be given. In this way, voters have enough time to submit them at the time of voting.

Taking force in their presentation, the judges ordered that the petitioner’s union’s proper request should be accepted as far as possible. The Bench also said that those who dedicate their time and energy without receiving adequate honorarium and consider it their duty to help the people to vote, should not be deprived of their fundamental right in democracy. The Chief Justice commended the polling officers for the difficult conditions to make voting possible in rural, hilly and tribal areas.

However, the PIL petition was filed to award all voters on voting duty, not just those deputed in their constituencies, to vote in advance through electronic voting machines (EVMs), ECI counsel Niranjan Rajagopalan informed the court that it would not be possible to allow anyone to vote through EVMs before the actual day of voting as the law does not provide for it. After submitting this, the petitioner’s counsel insisted on providing sufficient time to cast votes through postal ballots.