Last month, the central government had published a notification that permitted people over the age of 65 to vote in elections via postal ballot in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Till now, the postal ballot facility was available only to people over 80 years of age as well as to those that work in essential services outside their home states.
However, on July 3, the Congress had demanded an immediate review of the postal ballot scheme. The party claimed that the move might make voters susceptible to under organised administrative influence and that violates the secrecy clause - thus making election officials more vulnerable to the coronavirus.
The Election Commission this Thursday finally decided that the postal ballot facility will not be extended to between the ages of 65 and 80 for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. The reason given by the panel for this move was logistical and manpower constraints as well as safety protocols.
On Friday, a day after the EC took back its decision, few Opposition parties met in the capital to oppose the panel’s move that allowed parties to hold only a digital campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections amid the ongoing pandemic.
Nine parties came up with a joint memorandum that opposed the EC’s decision by allowing only a ‘virtual election campaign’. Amongst other things, the memorandum pointed out that only a third of eligible voters in Bihar voters have access to a smartphone.
They further said that more than half of the electorate would be left out of the process and the election would end up being a mere formality leading to a ‘travesty of democratic processes’. Concerns over the ability of the Election Commission to ensure physical distancing of at least two metres recommended by WHO and ICMR were also expressed in the memorandum.
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