EC’s Plan for Elections in a Pandemic: 5 Questions Answered

Election Commission (hereinafter EC) on 21st August issued broad guidelines for the conduct of general election/by-elections during COVID-19. These broad guidelines have been framed by the EC with respect to key activities of the conduct of elections, considering the upcoming General Elections and by-elections in various States/UTs during the period of COVID-19. EC has done this after taking into account views/suggestions received from various political parties, and chief electoral officers of States/UTs on election campaigning and public meetings. EC has also stated in the guidelines that based on these broad guidelines, a detailed COVID-19 related comprehensive plan will be prepared at the State level, taking local conditions into account. Here is everything you need to know about the guidelines and matters related with it.

Q1. What were the suggestions made by various political parties?

Out of the fifteen parties that responded to the EC’s call for suggestions, four parties (LJP, NCP, National People’s Party and AAP) had sought postponement of elections. JD(U), the ruling party in Bihar, had asked the EC to hold elections on a single day and not in a phased manner. Many parties had also sought restrictions on digital campaigning because it will be detrimental to smaller parties with limited resources. Congress and RJD had suggested that the elections be conducted via paper ballot because pressing the same button on EVM might lead to spread of coronavirus.

Q2. What has the EC laid down in the guidelines?

The EC has laid down guidelines under 15 heads which include, among other things, general guidelines to be followed by all persons during the entire election process, guidelines relating to EVMs/VVPATs, training and capacity building, nomination process, polling station arrangements, campaigning by political parties and contesting candidates and counting of votes. Here are some key take aways from the guidelines:

1. Every person will have to wear face mask during every election related activity.

2. Gloves shall be made available to each official handling EVM/VVPAT.

3. Sufficient number of Polling/Counting/Poll related staffs shall also be kept in reserve by District Election Officer (DEO)/Returning Officer (RO), to replace in case any polling personnel displays COVlD-l9 symptoms.

4. Nomination form will be available online on the website of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)/ DEO.

5. Candidate may deposit security money through online mode at the designated platform. However, a candidate will continue to have the option of deposit in cash in the treasury.

6. Number of persons to accompany candidate for submission of nomination has been restricted to two. Number of vehicles for the purposes of nomination has also been restricted to two.

7. Maximum number of voters at a polling station has been reduced to 1000 from the earlier limit of 1500.

8. Temperature of every voter shall be measured at the entry point of every polling station and if temperature of the voter is above the set norms of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at first reading, then it will be checked twice and if it remains the same, then the voter shall be provided with token/certificate and will be asked to come for voting at the last hour of poll. At the last hour of poll, such voters shall be facilitated with the voting procedure, strictly following COVID-19 related preventive measures. Similarly COVID-19 patients who are quarantined will also be allowed to to cast their vote at the last hour of the poll day at their respective polling stations.

9. Circles will be earmarked for 15-20 persons with a distance of 2 yards (6 feet) between them for voters standing in the queue depending on the availability of space. There shall be three queues each, for male, female, and PwD/ Senior citizen voters.

10. Soap and Water will be provided at the entry/exit point of every polling station.

11. Face masks in reserves for those electors who are not carrying the mask will be kept.

12. During the process of identification of voter, the voters will require to lower the face mask for identification, when required (this guideline though necessary seems a bit problematic to me).

13. EC has extended the facility of voting by postal ballot to persons with disabilities, voters above the age of 80, voters employed in notified essential services and voters who are COVID- 19 positive/suspect and in quarantine (home/ institutional).

14. A group of 5 persons (excluding security personnel) will be allowed to conduct door to door campaigning.

15. For road shows, the convoy of vehicles should be broken after every 5 (five) vehicles instead of 10 vehicles (excluding the security vehicles, if any). The interval between two sets of convoy of vehicles should be half an hour instead of gap of 100 meters.

Q3. How have various political parties reacted to the guidelines?

Congress’ general secretary, K.C. Venugopal said that the guidelines "fall far short" for the conduct of free and fair elections. He also stated that the poll panel "has overlooked almost all the suggestions given”. While RJD has demanded life insurance coverage for voters if they contract coronavirus infection during the election. While speaking to the Economic Times, Sanjay Jha of JD(U) welcomed the EC guidelines and stated that it is a diligently drafted document and the EC must be applauded… he was very glad that Covid-19 was not being allowed to hold democracy to ransom. The BJP said that as a political party it will go by what the EC says. “Every political party was asked to give suggestions. We also gave ours,” Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal told Economic Times. “After we have given suggestions, our work is done. We are no one to question EC over their work.”

Q4. How long can elections be deferred?

Bihar legislative assembly is set to complete its five year term on 29th November 2020. In normal circumstances, elections are to be held in a manner that the new assembly is in place on or before the outgoing assembly completes its term (which in the case of Bihar is 29th November 2020). If the EC is to defer the Bihar elections, it can be done under Section 153 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 read with Article 324 (which deals with superintendence, direction and control of elections by the EC) of the Constitution of India. However such extension cannot go beyond six months and must be held before the dissolution date of the assembly. This power by the EC can only be exercised after the election schedule has been notified (which in Bihar’s case has not been done till date). Further Article 172(1) of the Constitution allows the parliament to extend the duration of a state legislative assembly by a year plus six months in case of proclamation of emergency being in operation. There is no other law that specifically lays down the grounds for postponement of elections, however law and order, natural calamities like earthquakes and floods, or any other compelling circumstances which are beyond EC’s control can be the grounds for extension.

Q5. What next?

Bihar’s daily positive cases came down to 1,444 on Monday after reporting more more than 2,200 daily cases in the past week. This week Bihar also crossed the 1 Lakh mark of recovered patients. However given the unpredictable nature of the virus, we need to look at these numbers for a longer period for us to be able to reach any conclusion. Moreover the elections cannot be postponed till perpetuity and as Sanjay Jha of JD(U) stated in his reaction to the EC guidelines, we cannot allow COVID-19 to hold democracy to ransom. He may be right to some extent because people of Bihar might want to see a change of government, as was evident from the reactions of migrant workers during the initial stages of the lockdown.

Also read: Intervention of Foreign Governments in Elections