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Friday, Nov 05, 2004

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TALE OF TWO BALLOTS

AFTER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY and bio-tech, it could be the gargantuan exercise of voting and counting that might give India a distinct global advantage. Consider the travails of the world's only superpower in this respect. What Florida was to the year 2000, Ohio almost was to 2004 — except that Democratic challenger John Kerry mercifully cut short the threatened action replay by conceding a second term to George W. Bush. Indeed, at one stage the story looked all set to follow the twists and turns of the last American presidential election what with the Democratic campaign team insisting that the Ohio call wait until an estimated "250,000 provisional votes" had been counted. Had that much-dreaded scenario unfolded, Mr. Bush, the United States, and all of the world would surely have been on tenterhooks for another ten days, if not longer. The Indian reaction to the American mega-drama is expectedly one of quizzical amusement. In the aftermath of the ding-dong battle in Florida, Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill took a hearty swipe at the American election in an interview to Seminar magazine: "[In the U.S.] they elect one man with 50 different systems with all the pulls and pushes and little games. We were witness to those shenanigans." Though not so critical, the incumbent CEC, T.S. Krishnamurthy, advocates a measure of reform for the American version: "In my opinion the U.S. election system will gain by having a greater uniformity but for historical reasons this has not yet been possible."

The American election process is rendered complex by the fact that it is conducted locally and varies in form and method from State to State, and sometimes from county to county. There are no national standards for ballot types or voting devices, which are paid for from local budgets. The antiquity and maintenance of the equipment therefore hinge on the socio-economic status, traditions and tastes of the local people. The complaints of machinery malfunction in black and minority dominated areas arise from this drawback. Not that the Indian election is without its share of vices and other shortcomings. The term "booth-capturing" is a felicitous Indian coinage for which there is admittedly no international equivalent; this unique way of deciding the winner is practised especially well in the Hindi heartland. However, even this little subversion has long since taken a knock, thanks to many recent innovations in the conduct of elections. It has by now become accepted practice that re-election will take place wherever rigging has been established. Secondly, two years ago, the Election Commission gradually started to replace conventional ballot boxes with electronic voting machines (EVMs). The initial protests died down once the enormity of the achievement was realised.

The 14th general election was a paperless wonder with voters punching their decisions into as many as 1.75 millions of EVMs. Even better, the machines delivered their verdict almost instantaneously. The scale of the accomplishment is best told by the numbers: 543 lok Sabha seats; 5435 candidates; 687,407 polling stations; and 57.65 per cent of a total of 671.52 million eligible voters turning up at the booths. The Indian election is undoubtedly without parallel — whether for the size and diversity of the electorate or for the energy and enthusiasm of voters. The large voter turnout for the recent presidential race caused many American columnists to wax eloquent over the wonder called democracy. They were moved by the sight of the young and the old, the undernourished and the infirm queuing up in rain and snow to exercise their franchise. Yet for the vast masses of voters in India, democracy has long been a way of life; for the poor and the underprivileged especially election is celebration time, a time to exercise their power.

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