Is it possible to allow voting in EVM for poll staff, HC asks ECI

CHENNAI: The Madras High court has sought the Election Commission of India (ECI) to report on the possibility of ensuring that all government servants on election duty get to exercise their franchise through EVMs since the process of postal ballot has not been effective.

The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy before whom the plea moved by Tamil Nadu High and Higher Secondary School Graduate Teachers Association came up on Wednesday, directed ECI to come clear about the possibility of introducing the same. The direction came about on accounting for the petitioner’s submission that almost 60,000 votes of those on election duty go to waste owing to the lack of coordination between the District Election Officers to share the details of the voters on election duty who have their vote in another district.

The bench then posted the matter to March 8 enabling the ECI counsel to get suitable instructions in this regard as to whether the Government servants on election duty can be permitted to cast their votes through EVMs at least three days prior to April 06.

The petitioner’s counsel while citing to usual poor database of those on election duty resting in around 10 to 18 per cent of such staff being unable to cast their votes, submitted that the staff posted in other districts for poll duty face severe hurdles in obtaining the Election Duty Certificate (EDC) and that usually results in postal ballots arriving late.

The plea pointed out that the Returning Officer (RO) can establish five to six polling stations at his office premises to facilitate the voters on election duty with EDC to exercise their franchise in a regular manner prior to at least two to three days ahead of regular polling.