The Election Commission
has said that it won’t allow armed forces personnel to vote at their place of
voting as it would upset the local voting pattern of a constituency. The
risk, an EC official said, was more in Jammu & Kashmir and North Eastern
states like Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, which are thinly populated but have
heavy military presence. Besides, in many constituencies in Kashmir, where the
voter turnout could be very low, the participation of the local military unit
may alter poll results.
Since Independence a
false sense is prevalent, that the armed forces should remain apolitical and
insulated against the electrol process. The Government, Election Commission and
the armed forces themselves have not encouraged the men in uniform to vote
fearing that their voting could alter the local voting and they would become a
sizable ‘Vote bank’. Voting by armed forces could also dilute the apolitical
nature and the forces could become demanding.
Neglect of the armed
forces personnel by the very people who are supposed to look after them have
made them change their mind and move towards vote bank politics as it is seen
that those who vote are heard much more than those who don’t. The Supreme Court
ruling of 1971 that armed forces personnel can register themselves as general
voters like any other citizen has not found favour with the Election Commission. It is not that
men in uniform are not allowed to vote, but many have never voted either. Nor
is there a system in place which ensures that every person gets registered and
votes. Even the Service HQs have not shown interest to make their men vote. Moreover
prior to, and during elections the armed forces are on standby to thwart any
evil designs of the enemy/election duty.
So, therefore, what is the solution?
Right
to Vote
The Constitution
guarantees voting rights to every citizen of the country who is eligible to
vote and the armed forces are a part of the citizens of this country. Hence
voting by members of the armed forces cannot be denied. ‘Right to Vote’ exists and should be honored.
Registration
for Voting
Next, there should be a
system in place so that persons can vote. The method of sending ballot papers by post is outdated and reaches much beyond
the date and time of casting vote. There
is no database to know as to how many are registered voters and how many
need to register to be eligible to cast their vote. So foremost, there is a requirement to create such a database of all the eligible personnel. This can best be
done by involving the ‘Regimental Centres’ which would be having a computerized database of
their regimental jawans and their place of posting/location. Army HQ must get
fully involved and push the Regimental Centres to register all personnel. The facility of the Election Commission to
register ‘ON LINE’ should be exploited and encouraged by the armed forces by
themselves.
For
Future
At the time of
enrolment itself the armed forces personnel should be made to register for
voting. This task should be undertaken by the Regimental Centres.
Casting
of Vote
Having ensured
registration by all, thereafter a system needs to be evolved by which all can
vote much earlier to the date of voting by the general public or during the
intervening period between the date of voting and counting of votes which the
EC should be able to decide in consultation with Army HQ. The present methodology of ballot papers and ballot boxes / proxy
voting is not recommended as it is outdated and full of delays.
India takes pride in
calling itself the IT Capital of the world but finds it difficult to put a
system in place which can effectively ensure
‘On line’ voting by its people. If railways / airlines reservation system /
banking system, /filing of income tax returns can function effectively, there
is no reason as to why an on line voting system cannot be installed. A mind set
change of the EC and the Army HQs is required. Technology is available,
technical expertise exists. All that is required is to Rig it up before the
elections.
How
can it be done?
- ·
Existing EC system for registering on
line can be used with suitable modification or
- ·
The Aadhar UID system can be integrated
with the EC system.
How
will access /voting be done?
It is presumed that all
armed forces personnel have registered themselves and have a valid voter id.
- ·
Access/login should be based on the
personal number id given to every defence person at the time of enrolment and
stays with him throughout.
- ·
After logging in, the system should
display his photo, particulars like name, address, unit, constituency etc.
- ·
System should authenticate him by asking
him his voter id card no/aadhar card no.
- ·
System there after directs him to his
state constituency with the names and symbols of the persons standing for
election.
- ·
Defence person exercises his right to
vote by clicking on the name of the aspirant.
- ·
System locks his voter id to prevent
duplication of casting vote again.
What
other option available?
EC should send EVMs
under its authorized reps to the Regimental Centres who in turn should dispatch
these EVMs under Special Courier to the units as per location.
After the votes have
been cast, the EVMs are returned to the Regimental Centres and then on to EC
for counting of votes.
Should
voting be at place of posting or home constituency?
The major question facing
the EC is that of whether voting should be at the place of posting or to the
person in the constituency. The option of voting at place of posting has been
turned down by the EC. Apart from the voting pattern shift, as an example, the
soldier from Kerela sitting in Leh/Tawang would be least interested in the
local constituency as he would be more worried about things/happenings back in
his home constituency. It would be in
fairness, that defence persons posted in field/semi field areas should be
allowed to vote for the home constituency rather than to at the place of
posting.
What
about those who are posted in peace stations?
That is debatable. No
unit / person remains in a peace station for more than two to three years.
Persons in peace locations get aligned with the local population and face the
same problems/facilities as any other citizen and would like their vote to be
counted and their problems attended to. So it would be appropriate that defence
persons in peace areas are allowed to vote for the constituency at the place of
posting or alternately the option can be given to the individual whether he
would like to vote for locally or his home candidate.
Voting
for the party / PM Candidate
Another option which is
workable and far better , would be to
vote for the political party eg Congress/BJP or the party’s Prime Minister
candidate. It is then the responsibility
of the Party/PM to ensure that instructions are issued down the line to resolve
the problems related to / faced by the armed forces personnel.
It is never too late to
remind the people of this country about Chankaya’s advice to his King; to attend to
the problems of his soldiers so that they can do their duty fully committed to
the nation. The EC and the Armed Forces HQs must make a concerted effort to
ensure that the defence personnel get themselves registered and are able to
cast their vote like any other army in the world and be counted.
