Why elections in India are held under secret ballot
Answers
‘Secret Ballot’ refers to the method of voting in which all votes are cast in secret, so that voter is not influenced by other individual/party workers during the time of voting and can exercise his ‘free will’. In India, SB was introduced with the first elections in 1951 along with paper ballots.
Provision in India
1.Polling -> Voting in India is practiced behind enclosed booths via EVM, so secrecy is maintained in this aspect
2.Post-poll -> Release of ‘booth-level data ‘regarding the percentage of votes secured by each candidate/party which may help in mapping the support enjoyed by them.
Parties could match their pre- and post-poll support base and identify the dissenting groups, which may violate the very definition of ‘Secret Ballot’ – Thus targeting these individuals through social repression, intimidaton, and may smooth talk them to change their candidate preference in next election
Way forward
1.Adopt Totaliser machines -> Mixing up votes from EVMs across a constituency at the time of counting, thus making it impossible to trace the voting patterns of individual polling booth
2.Discontinue disclosure of booth-level data, instead can show only total constituency-related data which would make mapping by parties much difficult
3.Use of ICT -> Monitoring of election booths via CCTV to prevent ‘political goondas’ from influencing the voters
Art 171 (3c) -> Many teachers have turned into politicians, while Govt. schools majorly host elections so many instances of collusion between school authorities and candidate have been reported
4. Accessible locations and machines -> For disabled person, ramps at all voting sites, tactile and Braille buttons on EVMs and making process smoother so that assistance of a companion person is not required (Assiatance violates Right to secret voting) – Mobile voting is also practiced in some countries for such class of people
5. Involving CSO -> Taking assistance from CSO like Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and MyNeta for recording of cases of manipulation/discrimination against particular social groups Eg-> not allowing Dalit to vote etc, and also sensitizing CSO's to respect privacy/secrecy of voters
6.Last resort -> Adopt paper ballots where traditionally mixing of constituency votes have been adopted
Right to vote (Statutory) includes the right to vote independently and in secrecy, which gets violated in principle through disclosure of Booth-level data. EC should be devolved with more powers to decide on the best-voting practices to be followed without interference from the Centre (Govt. rejected totaliser adoption on grounds of 'booth management' which makes parties more responsive to the specific needs of local voters ), to enhance transparency and accountability during voting process