Problem of impersonation and multiple-voting in elections

PR Shyleyn Chothe *

Comparison of photographs of voters taken on polling day and their photographs affixed on Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) has found that a large number of photographs did not match at all, with aged women turning out to be maidens, women into men and vice versa :: Pix - TSE

The recent elections to the 10th Manipur Legislative Assembly was supposed to be conducted under strict code of conduct. So, the law-abiding citizens thought booth-rigging and voting through impersonation or 'proxy-voting' has always been one of the reasons behind various election-related crimes.

The failure to checkmate impersonation has led to the rise of multiple-voting, the auction of electors and also has become a safe excuse for illegal immigrants to clandestinely become the bonafide citizens of India. And then, there has also been a rise in the number of 'professionals' in every polling stations waiting to be 'hired' to impersonate as genuine electors, for a mere fistful of rupees.

Hence, there is euphoria over the introduction of electioneering procedures like 'photo-profiling of electors', SMS-based poll monitoring system, collection of thumb-prints or specimen of electors in Form-17-C et alibi, by the Election Commission of India (ECI), in the attempt to discourage impersonation and multiple-voting by the electors.

Sadly, in the recent election, albeit, the existence of such electioneering laws, impersonation and multiple-voting were in full swing on the day of polling, particularly in the hill Assembly Constituencies of Manipur. Interestingly, such malpractices were initiated by armed militants whose 'ideologies' do not seem to cross the limits of their community-based ethnic boundaries.

The ability to these militants in manipulating the voting procedures in favour of their respective candidates shows that the militants were well-versed with the procedures to be followed by the polling officials, and secondly, it exposes the inability of the security personnel in securing the task of securing the polling stations.

It is not a lie that in many polling stations, militants (dressed in civilian clothes) would barge inside and take control of the EVMs and mobile handsets. Then, they pressed the EVM's button in favour of their candidates while simultaneously forcing the genuine electors (who were in queues) to be photographed by the polling officials. But these genuine electors were not allowed to press the EVM buttons.

The militants even dictated the functioning of SMS-based poll monitoring system, registration of voters and every other thing that matters inside the polling stations, all in the presence of security personnel.

However, the authorities concerned (read ECI), probably for want of physical evidences, rated the elections in the hill districts of Manipur as 'peaceful'. The ECI also knew that no political parties, other than the ones supported by the militants, were allowed to campaign in most hill districts of Manipur.

Photo comparison is a must in detecting impersonation and multiple-voting. But then, without excluding the votes polled through such malpractices at the time of counting of votes commences, the whole exercise of scrutinizing the photos of electors, presiding officers' diaries and the EVMs would be a denial of the democratic privileges guaranteed to every citizen of India, while at the same time, it would mean a waste of time, energy and tax-payers' money.

Even if photos of electors lack clarity when viewed, all efforts must be given to confirm their identities. There are also reports of electors casting their votes in the absence of photos and EPIC numbers in the marked electoral rolls. In such cases, the presiding officers' dairies, Form 17-A and percentage of votes polled for a single candidate in a polling station need to be scrutinized.

Another important issue is multiple-voting. There are electors who have both their names and photos in many Assembly Constituencies and polling stations. If their votes were found to have been polled according to the records maintained in the EVMs, Register of Voters and photo-profiling, what will be the fate of those votes polled through such discrepancies?

The only best thing the ECI can do is to exclude those votes at the time of counting of votes is undertaken as an exemplary action towards impersonation and multiple-voting. Impersonation and multiple-voting are the two cancerous problems infecting the whole country during election times.

If the Election Commission of India (ECI) will not take exemplary action by excluding those votes polled through such malpractices, the citizens of India will shy away from putting their trust on the democratic set-up of India as well as to the sanctity of ECI.

When the people are satisfied with the judgement of ECI, the Election Observers and the Returning Officers will be liken as their knights in shining armours. And without doubt, the CEO of Manipur will be regarded as the reincarnate of the fiery TN Seshan aka 'Tiger' Seshan, the then of CEC of India. And it may not be long before we have another CEC from the North East.