Democracy basically stands for a rule of the people, by the people and for the people. People hold the idea of democracy very close to their hearts in order to ensure a just rule. Electoral politics is a very important aspect of a democracy, as it reinforces the very idea mentioned above. People get to choose their representatives, and also have the power to change them on a regular basis.
(i) Accuracy- The vote should go to the person or party which has been voted and not to anyone else.
(ii) Anonymity- The voter's identity must not be disclosed.
(iii) Scalability- It can be used to handle large elections.
(iv) Speed of generation of results- Results must be generated quickly.
It is more important to look closely at how the elections are conducted. Let us look at it from the Indian perspective. The constitutional body responsible for conducting elections in India is the Election Commission of India.
We all know that for the purpose of elections, the country is divided into electoral constituencies. In India, we have 543 constituencies. What garners more attention from political parties and the electorate in India is the Electronic Voting Machine. These machines have been subjected to heavy criticism over the years.
Initially, ballot-papers was used for voting. This had many disadvantages, the primary one being that it led to a lot of usage (can't call it wastage:) of paper. Moreover, there were a lot of discrepancies with regard to the results, that could have been avoided.
The Electronic Voting Machine was the instant solution. It was first tried out in the year 1982 in the Assembly Elections of Kerala for the Parur Assembly Constituency. Even though the elections to that constituency were declared null and void, it led to the amendment of the Representation of People Act (RPA) in 1988. It began being used extensively in elections from the 1989 general elections onwards.
Now, with the introduction of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT; I will explain this mechanism in a later blog), we hope to have greater transparency in the electoral process.
Political parties have had varied opinions on the usage of EVMs. For instance, in 2017, leader of Bahujan Samaj Party, Mayawati, said that the 2014 general elections were not free and fair because of the EVMS. Since then, parties like the Indian National Congress, CPI and Trinamool Congress have openly declared their support for shifting back to ballot-papers.
But, as Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat also said in an interview with the Hindustan Times that, "Political Parties find EVMs an easy target." He also mentioned in the same interview that the failure rate of EVMs has gone down to 0.7%.
My view on the EVM is very clear. Technology has become such an integral aspect of all our lives, and its use must be pervasive in a democracy. Technology only empowers people, as it does not allow time and precious human resource to be wasted. Thus, human potential can be used for better purposes.
I also feel that instead of blaming the voting mechanism and the EC, political parties must respect the Election Commission. I always feel that the Election Commission is as important an independent constitutional body as the Judiciary. Conducting elections in such a diverse country is no mean job, and parties must have respect for the authority. Decisions taken by the Election Commission must be respected.
Moreover, parties and leaders must understand that victory and loss are part and parcel of life. However, this is easier said than done. Political parties are only interested in gaining power. But, I have great respect for those parties and leaders who accept defeat, introspect on their loss, and move ahead.
This might seem too ideal a situation, but it is a requirement for electoral politics in India. It needs to happen to bring about a change in the political panorama of our country.
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Sources-
- https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/political-parties-find-evm-an-easy-target-says-chief-election-commissioner/story-Du8PTvKKjiRjXAq3YmWLkM.html
- BYJUs IAS- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmP3doUsAaY
- https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/political-parties-divided-over-reverting-back-to-ballot-paper/articleshow/65564532.cms
An apt lesson on EVM's. However, not wishing to say anything wrong about this lovely article, it just didn't give a very clear picture on EVM's. I just felt that a little description on its use by people and its advantages could have been given to make it clearer. Also, a line about how the POR Act improved elections would have been good. However, the views expressed in the article are very assertive and strong. Liked our article otherwise. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for your feedback Trisha. I agree with you that I should have explained the EVM in greater detail. The issue was that I did not want to make the article very descriptive. I wanted to keep it short. But, thanks a lot for letting me know that the picture created could have been cleearer
DeleteHey bud, amazing post right there.... I am subscribing to your blog.
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Sure Vinil. I will definitely stay in touch with you...
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