Abraham Lincoln’s allusion to democracies as “governments of the people, by the people, for the people” was challenging but not as much until the novel coronavirus hit us. India, too, has suffered the horrors of this pandemic.

However, the situation improved as the country emerged as the leading manufacturer of the vaccine. As life limps back to normalcy, elections in five States are upon us even as the pandemic refuses o o away.

But, then, the Election Commission of India successfully conducted Bihar Assembly polls in 2020 when Covid was raging. The voter turnout, at 57.05 per cent, was even marginally higher than the 56.66 per cent recorded in 2015.

However, conducting Assembly elections in five States — Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Puducherry — is still a challenging task for the Election Commission. Especially, with Covid cases beginning to spike again.

Challenges before EC

In conducting the Bihar Assembly elections, the Election Commission was no doubt inspired by the successful experiences of many countries, especially South Korea, which conducted its national elections in the midst of the pandemic.

Besides the usual norms related to sanitising and social distancing, the guidelines by the Election Commission included reduction in the limit of electors per polling booth in order to prevent overcrowding, addition of polling stations, EVMs, restricting door-to-door canvassing to groups of five persons and many more such steps.

To counter the possibility of a lower voter turnout, the EC extended the postal ballot option to senior citizens, Covid-positive patients, persons with disabilities and voters employed in essential services, along with making use of its now famous SVEEP (Systematic Voter Education for Electoral Participation) programme. It drafted a voluntary code of ethics in collaboration with social media platforms allowing direct engagement between the two over problematic posts during election session.

A citizens’ report

The Election Commission has proved the words of Nelson Mandela that “courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear”.

Undoubtedly, the Election Commission has proved itself as an independent constitutional body which has overseen several reforms such as lowering of voting age, EVMs that were introduced in 1998, disqualification from contesting for conviction for violating the National Honour Act 1971, restrictions on contesting from more than two constituencies, ceiling on election expenditure, and restrictions on exit polls (2019) so that voters are not prejudiced and misguided in any manner.

The Citizens’ Commission on Elections (CCE), in its second report titled An Inquiry into India’s Election System, raised questions over the autonomy of the ECI and highlighted several shortcomings in the existing system. In the report, former Supreme Court Justice Madan B Lokur questioned whether elections in India are “free and fair”. Despite these queries the Election Commission has conducted free and fair elections since 1950.

Political violence

Elections in West Bengal have always seen political violence. It started with the Left and the Congress, then the Left and the Trinamool Congress, and now it is the BJP versus the Trinamool Congress.

Without pointing fingers at anyone, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Maut ke khel se Mat nshi mil sakta” — you don’t get votes from bloodshed. Criminals in politics is another issue where reform is long overdue. The Supreme Court has exclusively dealt with criminals in politics and directed the EC to take necessary steps suggesting amendment to the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

According to Article 324-329 of the Constitution, the EC is a constitutional body that has supervisory and directional control over the complete process of elections to Parliament and Legislature of every State and to the office of the President and Vice-President of India. The EC saw a huge transformation under the leadership of TN Seshan and JM Lyngdoh.

During their tenures people recognised the power of their votes which helped strengthen the democratic process and rights of the people. NOTA and VVPAT have made significant impact in the electoral reform of the country. This constitutional body holds discussions with legislative department on several electoral reforms like facilitating postal ballot facilities for PWD and electors of above 80 years and electors belonging to essential services.

The way forward

While considering other key issues, the EC needs to strengthen social distancing, safety norms and guidelines, curbing violence, conducting free and fair elections, emphasising the importance of training the officials.

These are crucial measures that need to be enforced during these pandemic times. Preparedness is required before, during and after elections and the voters’ safety needs to ensured as they are voting amidst the second wave of the Covid to enhance their unwavering faith in democracy.

Kumar is a Delhi based Law and Policy expert and Deb is a Political Strategist

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