Inside the elections: A look into the role EC’S poll observers play
under the superintendence, control, and discipline of the Commission for the period from their appointment until the process of election is completed. These observers are not sent to their parent cadre or their present place of posting but to a new state.
As a practice, highly regarded officers, who have no blemish on their careers, are selected for the challenging and highly scrutinyprone role of an observer, where the pressure is not just from the ECI but from the local media, the voters and the candidates, all demanding and expecting different things from the observers. The challenges are compounded due to the language barrier.
The Sunday Guardian interacted with a senior officer who has been given the duty of an observer in a district in a western state. The said officer, who is a part of an economic intelligence unit, is more adept at pinpointing the different ways in which cash and other material are moved from one place to the other without being detected. This is the third election of the said officer in the role of an observer.
After being assigned a district, among the first tasks of the observer is to do a press conference and let the people know about his or her mobile number and the address where he is staying, which is usually government guest houses. These details are disseminated so that people can approach the observer and share details about any untoward or malpractice that is taking place with the intention to influence the polls. The said mobile number is specifically provided by the ECI to each officer which is then surrendered once the election process is over.
The observer works with the objective to make it clearly known to the voters that he is not a part of the local administrative setup and any complaints shared with the observer regarding election related malpractices is highly confidential. This is done as in many cases, the local administration, which is composed of officials posted in the said area for a long time, start working for the benefits of local leaders and parties and also pressurise the voters to support a particular candidate who has bought their influence.
During their training for the role of observer, one of the lessons that is taught to them is to keep on mind that the objective of the observer is not to find fault but to facilitate field administration in ensuring a free and fair poll and the candidates don’t overspend on campaigning beyond the amount prescribed.
In January 2022, the government had decided to increase the expenditure limit of a candidate of a Lok Sabha election to Rs 95 lakh for bigger states and Rs 75 for smaller states. Earlier, the limit was Rs 70 lakh for bigger states and Rs 54 lakh for smaller states. The last major revision in the election expenditure limit for candidates was carried out in 2014, which was further increased by 10% in 2020 as an interim measure. Expenses incurred on rallies and events of “star campaigners” are borne by parties. There is no limit on the expenditure done by political parties.
However, according to the observer, who spoke to The Sunday Guardian, the expenses incurred by the candidates of big parties in the general elections are much more than then the limit of Rs 95 lakh.
The said observer said that Rs 1 crore is being spent by serious candidates on panchayat elections and hence it is anyone’s guess as to how much is being spent by a candidate from a national party while contesting for a Lok Sabha seat. A rough estimate, as per the discussion that happens among the observers, is that for a nonmetropolitan Lok Sabha seat, anywhere between Rs 8-Rs 15 crore is being spent depending on the area and population size. For metropolitan cities, it is likely touching Rs 20 crore.
The observers said that the days of voters being given saree, cloth materials and suitcases to purchase their votes are over now. “Now what we have observed is that people are demanding a one year recharge of their mobile data, smart watches (that cost around Rs 12001500) and headphones. In Chhattisgarh we found that ‘payal’ (silver anklet) is very much in demand and we have come across an instance where 10,000 pieces of such anklets were purchased by political parties and their candidates and distributed to voters long before the polls were to happen,” the observer said.
The observer also found that now money as a bribe is being transferred to voters though UPI apps and in such cases, it is very hard to establish the allegations of the voter being bribed by the candidate or the party. Most of the time the money is
transferred to the voters by someone who has no direct or formal connection with the candidates.
As per the observations by these observers, 90% of the cash and liquor that are to be distributed to voters to influence voting, is done well in advance of the model code of conduct coming into effect.
“The money and other things (that are categorized as bribery by the ECI) are moved 4-5 months before the actual polls. Ideally, the scrutiny system that is put in place by the EC on the day of the announcement of the polls, should come into effect at least four months before the election is announced, this will significantly help the ECI in curbing money and liquor as a tool to influence voting. Now candidates and parties move the major part of the cash and liquor well in advance of the polls being announced and store them at suitable points,” the observer said.
As per the findings of the observers, the procurement
of alcohol to be distributed in elections takes place 4-5 months before elections. “For example, since liquor is cheap in Madhya Pradesh when compared to Maharashtra, political parties bring alcohol in bulk from MP and store it in Maharashtra way in advance of the poll dates being announced,” the observer said.
These observers oversee the working of Static Surveillance Teams (SSTS) which are used to monitor illegal cash transactions. There are usually four or more SSTS in each Assembly constituency, with one executive magistrate and three or four police personnel in each team. The SST also has an official of the Central Police Force and videographers who are stationed at check posts on major roads.
The observers also track consumption of liquor and its procurement to check if excess procurement has happened while comparing it with previous data.
According to the observer, another challenge that they face is the deployment of officials who have little expertise of the task that they are asked to do.
“Officials from the irrigation department or agriculture department cannot be expected to know how an E-way bill works or how its app works. They just stand for 8 hours so that their attendance is marked. ECI needs to deploy field specialists who know how goods can be moved around without getting detected. Officials adept at revenue and commerce should be given more responsibilities as far as expenditure tracking is concerned,”, the observer said.
These observers use and rely on human intelligence or technical intelligence to detect untoward activities. According to the observer, the C-vigil app which acts as an information rallying point through which common people share information with the Election Commission of India regarding election code violations and other malpractices has emerged as an effective tool for the observers.
The observer says what upsets them the most is a low polling percentage in their area of responsibility.
“We do a lot and try our best to bring more and more voters to the voting booth. However, sometimes it does not happen as we expect. What I have seen is that enthusiasm to vote is mostly among lower and middle class voters, reserved category and Muslim voters. The so-called elite rarely vote. The service class also disappoints massively. The election should not be held on weekends, it should be held on weekdays so that people don’t take long leaves and go on holiday rather than vote. Similarly, some sort of incentive should be given like tax rebate to those who vote,” the observer stated. The observers share their feedback with the ECI on a regular basis which happens on video conferencing which is attended only by Central observers and where no outsiders are allowed.
As per the mandate of the election observers, they are not deployed on a faultfinding mission, but to objectively assess the poll preparedness, identify the critical gaps and guide the electoral officials to address them. If any shortcoming or lacunae in the actions or performance of any election official in the state is not being addressed despite reminding the field machinery, the observer is required to communicate the same to the Commission and avoid a direct confrontation with the officials. The observer’s workload has increased significantly with the arrival of social media.
“The election expenditure is broadly divided into legal expenditure and bribery. The first one is allowed and includes expenditure connected with campaigning, which is spent on public meetings, public rallies posters, banners, vehicles, advertisements in print or electronic media etc. The second category is not permitted under the law, e.g., distribution of money, liquor, or any other item disbursed and given to the electors with the intent to influence them. This expenditure comes under the definition of bribery, which is an offence both under IPC and under R.P. Act, 1951 (The Act). Apart from that we are also keeping an eye on surrogate advertisements, paid news and use of social media, etc. Surrogate advertisements, paid news are never reported by the political parties/candidates and we have to be on our toes to catch such expenditure as well, and not only include it in the account of election expenditure, but also take action against the wrongdoers under the relevant provisions of the law, including lodging of complaints before the police/ competent magistrate, if required,” the observer said.
As the last 72 hours of the polling day approach, the observer spends sleepless nights and exhausting days while ensuring that all the 21 checklists that he/she has to comply with for a fair and free poll have been met. These checklists are related to personnel involved in polling, law and order of the booths and the area, stopping of any kind of inducement, EVM management and storage of EVMS.