CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice of motion to the Punjab State Election Commission for May 28 on a petition seeking the use of electronic voting machines during polling in the ensuing panchayat elections in Punjab.
In their petition against the Punjab Government and other respondents, Gurinder Singh and Agriculture Master and 3 other staff member of Government Senior Secondary School, Bilaspur (Moga) through counsel Hari Chand Arora also prayed that the counting of votes should be carried out at the block, and not village level to minimise security expenses and election disputes, besides expeditious counting without undue pressure exerted on the counting staff during over-night counting.
The petitioners have stated that voting through ballot papers leads to large number of disputes and filing of election petitions, arising out of situations when a voter marks the sign between two election symbols, and at the time of counting of votes, the rival candidates claim the vote to have been cast in their favour. They have also contended that huge expenses are made by the State Government for making arrangements for counting in every village. They have submitted that counting of votes, if done at block level, would minimize security expenses, and would also protect the counting staff from unnecessary attacks, which they often face during counting of votes over-night in the villages. The petitioners have stated that they have the experience that many of the candidates, or their supporters are under intoxication at night which vitiates the atmosphere, and leads to unpleasant situations during counting during night hours.
The petitioners have stated that they had submitted a representation to the Punjab State Election Commission on November 23, 2015 also raising the aforesaid demands, and the latter had sought comments from all the Additional Deputy Commissioners (Developments) in the State, but the matter did not proceed further.