RJD joins Opposition chorus against relaxing postal voting rules

The RJD on Tuesday joined the Opposition chorus against the Election Commission decision to relax postal voting rules to allow those above 65 years, saying it will have "far reaching consequences" for maintaining procedural integrity of the elections.

Senior RJD MP Manoj K Jha shot off a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora in which he said his party would wish to place "strong objection" on the manner in which "such hurried changes" have been carried without any due process of consultation with political parties.

RJD is the fifth opposition party to approach the EC after CPI(M), Congress, CPI and Trinamool Congress on the issue. CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury was the first Opposition leader to take the matter to the EC through a letter on June 29.

The EC had defended its decision in its response to Yechury, saying allowing people above 65 years was done to avoid their exposure in public and not deprive them of their voting rights during Covid-19 pandemic.

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In his letter, Jha said his party's main concern is with the way in which the satisfactory physical verification of the voter will be done.

"With the introduction of new categories and expansion of existing categories of people to whom postal ballot will be made available, we are of the opinion that the principle of verification stands to be greatly undermined," he said.

Echoing the concern raised by Yechury and other Opposition leaders, Jha also expressed apprehension that this move would end up in favour of the "ruling coalition" with the monitoring and supervision powers under the current administration.

He also said it was too early to introduce such rules as the most immediate elections of Bihar Assembly is scheduled to take place only in October-November this year.

Jha also appeared to raise questions about the EC justification linking the move to Covid-19 pandemic, saying the government was already relaxing containment measures and allowing public activities to resume their natural rhythm.

"It seems a bit premature to put in place preventive measures in a generally dynamic situation almost four months in advance," he said, demanding a wide-ranging consultation before going ahead with the plan.

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Congress had approached the EC last Friday with a demand that the new decision on postal votes be recalled. In a petition to the EC, it said, "the manner in which this decision has been taken demonstrates a complete non-application of mind and a shocking circumvention of any consultation process with the key stakeholders (i.e. any other political parties other than the ruling regime). Even upon a cursory examination, the numerous legal deficiencies in this decision become apparent."

In his letter to Arora on June 29, CPI(M) General Secretary raised objections to the "unilateral" measure, saying it altered the electoral procedures and it could lead to instances of "manipulation and malpractice" resulting in potential favour of the ruling party".

"Our electoral system has always treated physical verifiability of the voters as the bedrock of integrity. With the two amendments to the rules, a very large number of voters will be out of the verifiability matrix. This assumes great significance because of instances of manipulation and malpractice even with the comparatively low number of postal ballots used by service personnel on election duty," Yechury had said.

Trinamool Congress General Secretary Subrata Bakshi on Monday said the move was "mala fide, unconstitutional and ex-facie violation of right to secrecy of vote, right to free and fair elections and right to health of citizens".

He said the amendment suggests that it has been notified to protect the right to vote of Covid-19 patients and for those at high risk due to the pandemic. "However, upon careful examination, it is evident that the cumbersome process for voting via postal ballots will put the elderly at greater risk of getting infected by the virus...the amendment puts at risk the lives of many for the sake of petty political benefits," Bakshi said.

In his letter, CPI General Secretary D Raja said the decision would lead to "malpractices and foul play by those parties which are in power and having resources".