‘No talk of deferring Bihar elections at this moment’
Chief election commissioner Sunil Arora, in an e-mail interview with Sunetra Choudhury and Deeksha Bhardwaj, speaks on the Bihar elections, how polling could change due to Covid-19, and on offering postal ballot facilities to those above 65 years and those in home/institutional quarantine due to the coronavirus disease. Edited excerpts: We saw a legislator found positive for Covid-19 voting in the Rajya Sabha polls. Do you think it was a good idea? What are EC’s takeaways from the RS elections?
Our electoral process has been inclusive and the commission always takes necessary measures to address any particular challenge so that it remains inclusive. Any elector found Covid positive needs to be facilitated, keeping the guidelines/ instructions prescribed under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, in view for the purpose of voting without compromising on security, safety and transparency. Our polling team took all prescribed measures to facilitate voting of the elector (in the Rajya Sabha polls).
Realising the changed environment, the commission on June 1 recommended to the ministry of law and justice amendments in the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, to facilitate postal ballot for electors who are 65 years and above, and electors who are under home/ institutional quarantine due to Covid-19 (in upcoming elections). On June 19, the ministry notified the amendments, as proposed by the commission. This is in addition to the existing postal ballot facilities for PwD (persons with disabilities) electors and electors employed in essential services. Will these initiatives be carried into the Bihar polls? When the ambit of the postal ballot is expanded, how do you ensure the sanctity/ security of the vote?
In 2019, the commission facilitated postal ballot for electors above 80 years and PwD electors in select constituencies in Jharkhand, and in 2020, in all constituencies in the NCT (National Capital Territory) of Delhi...people in essential services also exercised their right to vote using the postal ballot option. All these categories are extended postal ballot facilities following due procedures, with video-recording of the process, and keeping candidates informed at every stage. Hence, each postal ballot vote remains secure, safe and transparent. Is it now certain that elections for the Bihar assembly will go ahead as planned?
At the moment, there is no consideration of deferring the conduct of Bihar elections. Necessary preparations are underway at Election Commission of India (ECI), the state and the district levels. In Bihar, approximately 71.8 million electors will be casting votes in approximately 97,000 polling stations. How do you foresee elections changing during a pandemic?
Covid-19 has impacted the electoral process world over. Definitely, restrictions and social distancing will impact electoral activities on ground. Keeping these in view, the commission is contemplating a number of measures such as:
(a) Number of electors per polling station will be restricted to a maximum of 1,000 (as opposed to...1,600). Thus, auxiliary polling stations (PS) would be created (for the additional voters); for instance, 34,000 additional PSs are being planned for Bihar.
(b) Campaigning and outreach by political parties and even ECI’s Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) efforts will need to shift to digital mode to a larger extent.
(c) While ECI is ensuring that all ECI guidelines pertaining to electoral machinery, voters, political parties, candidates and other stakeholders are tweaked, a reassessment of procedures at various stages of the election is being worked out.
(d) All advisories and guidelines issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), under the Disaster Management Act...shall be adhered to.
(e) Our field functionaries need to account for all related instructions of managing the issues of Covid-19 at each stage.
(f) All stakeholders including political parties will have to ensure that the relevant safety guidelines issued by NDMA and public health authorities are followed in letter and spirit to ensure appropriate arrangements regarding social distancing, sanitization, disinfection, and masks/gloves etc. How will the model code of conduct change and adapt to the new digital mode of campaigning?
The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has evolved over a period of time in close consultation with the political parties, as a successful code of ethical behaviour in Indian elections. MCC consists of two parts: first, behaviour/activities which are already covered/regulated under existing statutes; and second, behaviour/activities not covered by any statute.
In case of enforcement of Disaster Management Act, 2005, to mitigate the dangers of spread of Covid-19, the concerned election authorities will ensure the implementation of regulating specific behaviour/activities, which relate to elections...
The commission has already established mechanisms to monitor digital environment for elections. There is a dedicated social media monitoring section, which monitors popular sites and deals with complaints received regarding misuse of social media for electoral purposes. Hence, with a proper monitoring mechanism in place, shifting of campaign to online mode would not affect the implementation of MCC. Is the EC considering voting via mobile apps and online?
The commission has not considered the option of voting via mobile apps and online. The EC has been considering the prospect of “remote voting” for a couple of years now. With lockdowns in various states, do we see a prospect of that materialising? If yes, who all will be eligible?
The focus of remote voting is on for those voters who are unable to exercise their franchise; who move from their places of ordinary residence for purposes of education, medical treatment or a vocation. Similarly, a large number of overseas electors are unable to cast their ballot. ECI has set up a Technology Advisory group, drawn from academic experts from IITs and other premier institutions to guide the commission on futuristic models for voting. They are actively engaged in simulating a workable prototype which can be tested for remote voting application. Fundamentally, it must meet the test of transparency, secrecy of ballot, security of data and network. A remote voting cell is being set up in ECI, which will have the mandate to consult various stakeholders and experts for brainstorming on the efficacy of technology. I am confident that we would be able to test...such a prototype over the next few months.
At the moment, there is no consideration of deferring the conduct of Bihar elections. Necessary preparations are underway at Election Commission of India office. SUNIL ARORA, CEC