The Hindu : EVMs to cover all voters for Assembly elections

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 16, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad

EVMs to cover all voters for Assembly elections

By M. Malleswara Rao

Hyderabad Nov. 15. The present Assembly elections will witness complete electronic voting for the first time in the State involving 70,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs) with a number of changes introduced in election law, also for the first time. It will be a costly poll as the State Government will have to spend about Rs 50 crores as initially estimated.

The coverage of all the existing 5.49 crore voters in the State with EVMs is going to be a possibility, for the election authorities here have already 60,000 of them at their disposal against a total requriment of 70,000. The Chief Electoral Officetr, M. Narayana Rao, plans to secure the remainder of 10,000 EVMs from the Election Commission to ensure total electronic voting, a Commission dream. Also, electorate exercising the franchise using photo-identity cards will reach a high of 78 per cent for the fist time during these elections, with 4.27 voters already having this facility. However, where these cards are not available, other documents establishing their identity will be insisted upon and accepted. The Commission will announce the list of these documents shortly.

The timing of the elections, however, remains uncertain with the Chief Election Commissioner ruling out early February as sought by the State Government, but the availability of time for the task marked by Commission-prescribed pre-conditions such as congenial climatic conditions, peaceful law and order situation, and having no clash with examinations, festivals/public holidays, is not a problem. Mr Rao says that they need only 24 days after the notification, as per the Representation of People Act, to complete the job— 7 days for filing nominations, one day for scrutiny, two days for withdrawals and 14 days for campaigning. Extension of the process by about 10 days can be reasonably presumed depending on whether it is a phased or one-day polling and on the time taken for counting and results-announcement, he said here today in an interview to The Hindu.

According to an independent assessment, the aforesaid pre-conditions point to early March, a period free from examinations to a large extent. In case of AP, the review of law and order by the Commission officials at Hyderabad "with a particular reference to naxalites who issue election boycott calls is a must" before the schedule announcement. Mr Rao says that the commission may come to grips with AP case around December first week and for the time being, it may limit itself to preliminary stock-taking exercise with data-collection and review meetings.

Advancement of the schedule has been ruled out in view of the ongoing exercise of summary revision of electoral rolls taking place in the State as annual feature from November 27 to January 20. The exercise otherwise also would not have come in the way because, this is a simple job with application-based enrolments without any door-to-door survey. The summary revision will add a modest 2 per cent to the electorate compared to 8-9 per cent under an "intensive revision" which will be taken up after a gap of years.

For the first time, there will be focus on criminal background of the candidates who have been required under new changes to file an affidavit along with the nomination indicating convictions, cases pending in courts, including those filed six moths prior to nominations, together with educational qualification, assets/liabilities. Returning officer has not been empowered to verify the details given nor is there a provision to disqualifiy for cases/convictions or wrong information. However, the information will be published and displayed and furnished to rival candidates for public education. The contestants stand to gain out of the other major of enhancement in expediture limit to Rs 10 lakhs from Rs 6 lakhs. Increase in the security amount to be deposited by them to Rs 5,000 with a half concession allowed to SCs/STs is being implemented from this election.

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