‘There will be a level playing field for all candidates’
MUMBAI: Chief electoral officer (CEO) of Maharashtra S Chockalingam in an interview to HT, said that there will be a level playing field for all parties and candidates in the state. Efforts have also been taken to improve the voter turnout, which hovers around 61-62%. He also said that the ECI will keep a close eye on 394 critical polling booths in the state where voting anomalies have been reported in the past. Excerpts from the interview
You were appointed for the post just two weeks ahead of the announcement of the election. How challenging has it been for you to prepare?
It was not challenging as an individual does not run the show, but the system. The great part about the machinery is that everything is in the form in standard operating procedures, in terms of Dos and Don’ts, handbooks for CEO, returning officers, guidelines on what to do 72 hours before the polling etc. As these things are in writing, it makes life much easier.
There was ambiguity over the transfer of municipal commissioners after completion of three years, and the rules were changed this time.
The activities and rules keep evolving as per the needs of the situation. The new instructions are very clear. The state government has also complied with the order (by transferring municipal commissioners of Mumbai and other cities). There was some back and forth, but ultimately, it was resolved after communication between ECI and state government. The order related to the commissioners and chief officers’ transfer is now a set precedent.
More than 74% of firsttime voters in the 18-19 age group are not in the electoral rolls. Why is this?
Compared to previous elections, the percentage has improved after our special drives at schools and colleges. The number is expected to be much higher as there are applications that are under process. But, still, there is a long way to go.
More than 1 million voters in the list are either repeated, dead or shifted and this affects the voting percentage.
It’s a very big issue. This time, districts have taken special care to ensure dead people are deleted from the list. The ratio of population and voters is uneven because of many reasons, including some citizens choosing to be voters at their native place and not their location of residence. Floating population in cities like Mumbai affects the ratio largely. The dead and shifted voters are on the rolls also because of the legal procedure that needs to be followed for the deletion. We are evolving a mechanism with the help of ECI, so that voters are deleted immediately after the deaths are registered.
The ECI has set an aim of 75% voter turnout. How are you going to achieve it?
There are a few measures being taken. Apart from deletion of dead and repeated voters, we are also involving prominent personalities from sports, arts and other industries to appeal to voters. We are also setting up booths in high rises in cities like Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nagpur to combat the apathy.
Why this special treatment to affluent voters?
It is not a special treatment, but it is a rule to provide a booth per 1,500 voters and if a high-rise fulfils this criteria, it gets a dedicated booth. While doing so, we ensure that the booths are at neutral places. It is to some extent true that there is not much cooperation by these societies, but there are many societies that voluntarily cooperate with us.
There is confusion over the voter registration process as well.
Registration of voters is an ongoing process and it can be done 10 days prior to the last day of filing of nomination. For Mumbai, the last day of filing nomination is May 3. The applications and documents required can be uploaded online too. The helpline for assistance is 1950 and the website is - https://ceoelection.maharashtra.gov.in/ceo/ registration.aspx
There have been complaints of favouritism towards ruling parties.
ECI assures to provide level playing field to everyone. If there is any grievance, there are mechanisms to approach election authorities at district, state and national levels. Action is taken without any favour to anyone.
How many critical and sensitive booths are there in the state?
We have two types of sensitive booths, first is vulnerable booths, where people are fearful while voting. We have no such booth in the state. There are 394 critical polling booths. They have been categorized as critical not due to booth capturing incidents, but for the unreasonable voting percentage. Some of them had registered 90% voting with 75% of those votes going to one candidate.
There is massive use and misuse of the social media in campaigns. How do you monitor it?
Using social media is not a violation of code of conduct, using it as formal advertisement is also permitted. Misuse of social media for hate speech or to favour someone attracts action under various sections of Representatives of People Act and Indian Penal Code. In case of the campaigns in concealed manner, it may be treated in paid news category. In case of violation, there will be legal action, but promoting someone is not a violation of law.