CHENNAI: Taking a cue from popular political thriller ‘Sarkar’, the Election Commission has issued guidelines to officials on the procedures to be followed when complaints of voter impersonation are filed. According to the guidelines, the polling agent of any contestant can challenge the identity of a voter.
“He can do so by depositing a sum of Rs 2 in cash with the presiding officer,” explains an election official. “Then, the presiding officer must conduct an inquiry. If the person is found to be a genuine voter, he must be allowed to cast his vote while the agent will have to forfeit his Rs 2. However, if the credentials of the voter cannot be established, he must be debarred from voting and handed over to police and the Rs 2 should be returned to the agent.” Also, the challenged votes should be recorded in a separate form.
Similarly, in the event of the vote of a person being cast by someone, the voter is still entitled to cast his/her vote through the tendered ballot system, and not by electronic voting machine.”Those votes cast through ballot paper should be registered in form 17 B,” says the directive.
Vijay-starrer Sarkar shows how the protagonist uses the legal machinery to win back his vote which has been cast by another person. The movie created an awareness among general public on the existence of the tendered ballot.