BENGALURU: As Bengaluru will go to the polls with ballot papers, tahsildars and panchayat members will now be roped in to train staffers at the Greater Bengaluru Authority.
Since these staffers have continued to use ballot papers for panchayat elections, they know how to handle ballot papers, and the State Election Commission is roping them in to train staffers, who will be overseeing the election process in Bengaluru, said State Election Commissioner GS Sangreshi.
“Bengalurueans last voted using ballot papers in 2001. It has been 20-25 years. Ballot papers are not banned or prohibited by courts or the Election Commission. They can still be used. Some training will be needed now for this system. But it will be done, just like the routine exercise for all elections. This time, however, a little more attention will be given,” he elaborated.
The Greater Bengaluru Authority Election Governance Rules and Act mentions the use of ballot papers or EVMs for elections.
“Weighing all aspects and maintaining a balance, it was decided to use ballot papers. Many people who will vote now and those of this generation have not seen ballot papers and this form of voting,” he said.
Election officials at the Greater Bengaluru Authority said the staff will need complete training on using ballot papers.
‘Extra staff will be needed to check, verify ballot papers’
“They have to unlearn the earlier process of counting and verifying, and adapt to the ballot paper system. This will be a Herculean task in the coming summer months, especially when everyone will be on vacation mode after the budget,” said an election official, seeking anonymity.
The State Election Commission and GBA are also looking at deploying additional staff for counting of votes.
“Unlike with EVMs, additional staff will be needed to double check and verify ballot papers during counting. Additional supervisors too will be needed to monitor the exercise. As political party workers will be present at the counting centres, extra staff will be required to monitor their behaviour. The entire counting process will take more time. This will be a big challenge for the corporation,” the GBA official said.
The SEC is working on providing special remuneration and honorarium to government staffers, teachers and all others who will be roped in for the election duty.
The GBA is also looking at the challenge of procuring around one crore cream-wove paper ballot papers for voting. Also, the ballot papers have to be printed in dual languages (Kannada and English). Each sheet will include the names of candidates, their photographs and political parties. Space will have to be provided to put the stamp. One sheet can accommodate 7-8 candidates. If the number of candidates is more, additional sheets will be needed, GBA officials said.
Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were introduced by the central government’s Electoral Reforms Committee in January 1990. The first-ever trial of EVMs was conducted by the Election Commission in 50 polling booths in No. 70 Paravur Assembly Constituency, Kerala on May 19, 1982. After incorporating them officially, they were used in 1998 in 16 Assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. In 2004, EVMs were used at all the 543 Parliamentary Constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections.
In 2013, the latest generation of M3 EVMs were incorporated, replacing the old ones. To improve transparency and verifiability of elections, the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) was introduced in August 2013.