Kerala elections: CPI(M) urges Election Commission to ensure voting rights for employees on poll duty amid ‘complexities’ of new system

The voting rights of employees deputed for election work should be ensured by the Election Commission, the Communist Party of India-Marxist [CPI(M)] Kerala State secretary said here on Saturday.

In a representation given to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), the secretary said the new system, which has eliminated the earlier facility of postal voting, is riddled with “ambiguities and complexities.”

The authorities who are supposed to ensure that the employees deputed for polling duty, other staff related to election duty, and employees involved in essential services exercise their voting rights are turning a blind eye to the ambiguities in the new system, said the representation.

Apart from the ambiguities, the Chief Electoral Officer’s “unwillingness” to give a unified and transparent directive regarding postal ballots has further complicated the issue. The officer should publish the data regarding how many officers assigned to election duty applied for postal ballots, the representation said.

It is also difficult for employees working as part of essential services to cast their votes at the facilitation center in their own constituency and then return to take up duty. This is because many people’s constituencies are in remote districts. Moreover, even if they reach there, it is not certain that there will be a ballot. Such a stance by the Election Commission is creating a situation where votes are widely denied, said the representation.