EC must realise no aberration will go unnoticed

The Election Commission of India has not been covering itself in glory of late, dogged as it is by a palpable crisis of faith, a costly loss for an institution for which people’s perception is crucial. For an election process to be considered free and fair—the declared motto that hangs over Nirvachan Sadan—it has to be seen to be so, by voters, both pre-poll and post-poll. Both the polling machinery and the personnel handling them have to be seen to be above board.

In Mizoram, voters had to take to the streets and force the Election Commission to change a key official. This was unprecedented. Even more so were the missing names from the voter list of Telangana: 22 lakh, no fewer. That could account for the entire electorate of a less populous country. In Telangana, it translated into 8 per cent of the electorate. A percentage that can decide an election. An apology seems too inadequate a response for such an abject failure. Even if allegations of a deliberate pattern are discounted, the oversight cannot be. Surprising that political parties too missed locating the gap.

The Election Commission must keep in mind that no aberration goes unnoticed in the age of social media. The spectacle of EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) and VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Trails) surfacing in unexpected places, or unknown people lurking around strongrooms, was another embarrassment. It’s good that the poll panel has decided on rigorous training for polling personnel before the Lok Sabha polls. The EC would also do well to not keep the date of polling and counting so far apart. Even when ballot papers had to be carried to the Northeast, the counting was closer to polling. It’s important that the Election Commission is not found wanting in its duties or seen to be compromised: nothing can be more sacrosanct for the survival of democracy than the exercise of franchise.