THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has called upon the state police chief to withdrawal the circular appointing a nodal officer for distributing ballot papers for postal voting among the policemen and to collect it after casting their votes.
Ramesh said generally the policemen who are on duty collect the ballot paper themselves and after casting their votes put it in sealed covers and return it to the polling officer. However, this time, a nodal officer has been appointed to distribute the ballot papers and collect them after casting the votes, Chennithala said and added this would affect the secrecy of elections.
Ramesh said secret ballot is the base of a democratic society and added if the ballot paper after casting the votes is handed over to a third person any type of malpractice can take place. He said instead of this, the policemen who are deployed on election duty should be provided with a polling station within their units to facilitate voting. The Opposition leader said in the Collectorate such facilities are provided for officers on election duty and added this facility should be extended to policemen on duty also.