UPSC EDITORIAL ANALYSIS : A tool to ensure complete voter anonymity

Source: The Hindu

Prelims: Current events of national importance(ECI, CEC, Article 324, Totaliser etc)

Mains GS Paper II: Appointments to various constitutional posts, powers functions and responsibilities of various constitutional bodies etc

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

• The Supreme Court: In any election, be it to Parliament or State legislature, the maintenance of secrecy of voting is “a must”.

INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE

Context

Election Commission of India(ECI):

• The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes in India.

• The body administers elections to: Lok Sabha Rajya Sabha State Legislative Assemblies in India Offices of the President and Vice President in the country.

• Rajya Sabha

• State Legislative Assemblies in India

• Offices of the President and Vice President in the country.

• Part XV of the constitution deals with elections, and establishes a commission for these matters.

• Article 324 to 329: deals with powers, function, tenure, eligibility, etc of the commission and the members.

• The commission: It consists of one Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.

• The President appoints Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.

• Tenure: They have a fixed tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

• Status: They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India.

• The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through a process of removal similar to that of a Supreme Court judge by Parliament.

• All three members have equal voting rights and all decisions in the commission are taken by the majority,

Article 324:

• The Superintendence, direction and control of elections to be vested in an Election Commission.

Functions of EC:

#### The ECI’s proposal for voter secrecy:

#### ● Impartial election: voter is able to cast his vote without the fear of retribution or feeling induced by the promise of a reward.

#### ● Voter secrecy is embedded in Rule 56 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.

#### ○ The returning officers can “reject a ballot paper if it bears any mark or writing by which the elector can be identified”.

#### ○ While counting, ballot papers of different ballot boxes were mixed to avoid group targeting of voters based on the voting trends in a particular area.

#### ○ Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), this ‘mixing’ cannot be done.

#### Totaliser:

#### ● The totaliser is a mechanism which allows votes from 14 booths to be counted together so that voters are saved from pre-poll intimidation and post-poll harassment.

#### ○ The votes cast via EVMs are counted on an individual booth basis.

#### ● It is a technique to mask booth-level voting patterns as a solution to the problem of post-election harassment of voters.

#### ● It was examined and evolved by the authorized EVM manufacturers in consultation with the Technical Experts Committee of the Election Commission of India (ECI)

#### ○ Demonstrated in 2008 before political parties who had “no objection” to the use of totaliser.

#### ● In March 2009, it was used on a trial basis in bye-elections to the Legislative Assembly of Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh.

Madras High Court order(2011):

• Directed the government to consider the ECI’s recommendation of amending the relevant Rules for introducing the totaliser

Yogesh Gupta v. EC(2014):

• It seeks a direction to the EC “to declare the results of every Parliamentary Constituency as a whole and to not declare results of every voting machine separately To preserve the right of privacy in voting: booth-wise declaration of results provided a “tool in the hands of the political parties to intimidate the voters”.

• To preserve the right of privacy in voting: booth-wise declaration of results provided a “tool in the hands of the political parties to intimidate the voters”.

• The EC reaffirmed its commitment to the totaliser. Court: Whether the EC could issue instructions for the use of totaliser under existing Rules. The EC: amendment of Rules was necessary.

• Court: Whether the EC could issue instructions for the use of totaliser under existing Rules.

• The EC: amendment of Rules was necessary.

Way Forward

• The Law Commission of India report 255th: It endorsed the EC’s proposal to introduce totaliser in counting of votes.

• Yogesh Gupta matter(2016): The government stated that the use of totaliser served no larger public interest.

• The EC: using totalisers for counting of votes was “absolutely necessary” for protecting the interests of the voters.

• In 2016, the government referred the matter to a group of ministers: Booth-wise voting patterns would have a beneficial effect in increasing development activities.

QUESTION FOR PRACTICE

• Discuss the role of the Election Commission of India in the light of the evolution of the Model Code of Conduct.(UPSC 2022)

(200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)

Editorial Analysis – 2 July 2024 [PDF]