Now is the time of transparency. The credibility of Indian elections has taken a huge hit thanks to manipulative processes through SIR, especially in West Bengal. If the status of the right to vote of 130 million voters removed from the poll rolls is not properly ascertained before the 2027 polls begin to various Assemblies, importantly Uttar Pradesh, the reputation of the fairness of the Indian election system will remain sullied forever.
Adding to the mystery of why such a large database as that of a billion voters was tinkered with was the recent refusal of the Election Commission of India to disclose the name and version of the software it used to identify errors and anomalies in voter rolls during SIR. While the reasons may be technical and not easily explained in the current situation when the authenticity of the revised voter rolls is in question, it is important that the EC move on to resurrect its image.
Assuming 20 million of 130 million voters excluded now may have died since the rolls were last updated nationally, that still leaves 110 million people out of an eligible one billion voters of 2027. Giving each of the unfairly disenfranchised one of those a fair chance to have his voting right restored should be the principal aim of the restoration exercise.
Every nation has a sovereign right not to allow a non-citizen to vote in its elections, but all nationals left out of the rolls should be afforded the opportunity to prove he/she is normally resident in the state where the polls are to be held and are eligible to vote.
The issue of the CEC, the principal architect behind the erasing of voting rights of millions, is proving too big a diversion now. That he should go is apparent but that is not as important as cleaning up the mess that has been created in denying millions who have an inalienable right to vote.
The sooner the ruling party, blamed naturally enough for the CEC’s actions since it is their leaders who appointed him, realises that, the sooner the issue is addressed head-on and the better it is for Indian democracy that has revolved for decades around a clean-enough voting system based on reliable EVMs.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
